Magic Number: 1

As they say, history repeats itself. Tomorrow could be deja vu all over for the Phillies and Mets.

A familiar situation. Jamie Moyer takes on the Washington Nationals. The Flordia Marlins take on the Mets at Shea Stadium.

The only difference? Instead of the last game of the season, it will be the second to last. Also, Brad Lidge would be ending the game with his slider rather than Brett Myers' curveball.

So how did the Phils and Mets get back into a familiar situation?

All thanks to Ryan Howard, and a little help from Josh Willingham. Other players also played key supporting roles.

Joe Blanton took the hill for the Phillies against Collin Balester and his Nationals. The Phillies jumped onto Balester quickly.

The Phillies threw up a 3 spot in the first inning , and a 4 spot in the 2nd.

Ryan Howard was a key part to the offense going 2-4 with a homerun and a double. He drove in 4 runs. Howard set a Phillies club record for most RBI in the month of September with 32.

Chase Utley also helped out with a 3 run double.

Because he was rocked, Balester lasted just 1.2 innings, allowing 7 earned runs.

Joe Blanton pitched well enough to earn the win. He pitched 6 innings and allowed 4 runs, only 1 was earned. He got most of the batters to ground out. He walked only one batter and struck out 2.

The Phillies bullpen kept the Nationals bats quiet, and Lidge closed out the game to secure a Phillies win.

In the process, Charlie Manuel was ejected after arguing balls and strikes. It appeared that Lidge had struck out batter Kory Casto, but Casto claimed he tipped the ball, which hit the dirt. The replay showed that Casto did not tip it, but home plate and third base umpires disagreed, calling it a foul ball. Manuel got into a heated argument and was tossed. The foul ball didn't matter much, because on the next pitch, Lidge struck Casto out.

Also, for the first time at Citizens Bank Park, we experienced Instant Replay. A homerun was called after a fan appeared to reach over the fence. It was hard to tell where the ball was going to land, since he dropped the ball. None the less, the umpires ruled it a homerun.

The Phillies won their 90th game of the season. The last time the Phillies won at least 90 games was in 1993. It is also just the second time since 1983 the Phillies won at least 90 games. When the Phillies win 90 games, in the past it usually marked a trip to the World Series.

With the Phils win, their magic number dropped to 2 games. But the Mets lowered it with their 6-1 loss to the Marlins.

Chris Volstad pitched 6 innings and allowed just one run. His counterpart, Mike Pelfrey, allowed 3 runs in 6 innings. The Mets bullpen also gave up 3 runs.

Josh Willingham hit his 15th homerun off Pelfrey in the 6th. John Baker, Dan Uggla, and Jorge Cantu also each drove in runs.

A Phils win, or Mets loss, equals yet another division title for the Philadelphia Phillies.