--1B Ryan Howard continued to state his case for the National League MVP award by swatting a three-run homer in the first inning and adding an RBI double in the second Friday night to move the Phillies to the brink of clinching the NL East title. Powered by Howard and All-Star 2B Chase Utley, their offensive pillars, the Phillies reached the 90-win summit for the first time since 1993. Thanks to Howard, there was no suspense. With 44,145 fans, a sellout crowd, waving white rally towels over the heads and chanting "M-V-P!, M-V-P!" in the first inning, Howard crushed a fastball over the outstretched glove of leaping Nationals CF Lastings Milledge and into the Phillies' bullpen beyond the 398-foot sign for a 3-0 advantage. "That was a monster, man," manager Charlie Manuel said. "He hit it through the wind. He hit that ball a long ways. That really got us going." What else is new? Despite batting .250, striking out 198 times and leading all first basemen with 19 errors, Howard has entered the MVP discussion with freakish power and by driving in more runs than any other player in the majors. Howard leads the majors with 48 homers and 146 RBIs, three shy of his career-high 149 during his MVP season in 2006. His 32 RBIs in September are a franchise record, surpassing Gary Matthews' 31 RBIs in September 1981.
--LHP Cole Hamels will start Sunday if the Phillies need to win to clinch either a playoff spot or the NL East, according to manager Charlie Manuel. If Hamels, the Phillies' ace, doesn't have to pitch Sunday, he would be in line to start Game 1 of the best-of-five NL Division Series on Wednesday. Hamels is 14-10 with a 3.09 ERA in 33 starts for the Phillies. --RHP Joe Blanton allowed four runs (one earned) in six innings Friday night and won his second straight start for the first time since Sept. 10-15, 2007. Blanton got plenty of ground-ball outs by using his sinker. He improved to 4-0 with a 4.20 ERA in 13 starts since joining the Phillies in a mid-July trade.
--RHP Brad Lidge tossed a spotless ninth inning Friday night to extend his season-high scoreless streak to 13 2/3 innings. Lidge said he can't fathom a scenario where he doesn't close the Phillies' playoff-clinching game, possibly as early as Saturday. "If the score was 100 to nothing, I'd be out there," Lidge said. "There's basically no way that there's a scenario where I wouldn't force myself out there."
