THREE UP
Phillies slugger Ryan Howard continued his march toward the team’s single-season record for home runs despite an 8-3 loss to the NL East-leading Mets. The second-year slugger hit his 47th of the season, putting him one behind Mike Schmidt’s mark of 48 in 1980.
Marlins rookie Josh Johnson reduced his major-league-leading ERA to 2.87 as he held the Brewers to two earned runs over 7 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts. Johnson’s effort led Florida to a 4-2 win and pulled the Marlins within 2 games of the Reds in the wild-card race.
The Mariners’ Felix Hernandez looked like a phenom — and he did it quickly. He threw just 95 pitches, scattering five hits in his first career shutout in a brisk 2-0 win over the Angels. Hernandez struck out four and walked none in a game that took just 1 hour 51 minutes. . . .
THREE DOWN
However, it wasn’t all good news as reliever Julio Mateo will miss the rest of the season after a mishap in the Safeco Field weight room. He broke his left hand before the game when a 35-pound weight slipped and pinned his hand between the weight and the rack.
The Red Sox played without their two stars in Oakland. Manny Ramirez rested his ailing knee and David Ortiz is heading back to Boston Tuesday for tests for an irregular heartbeat. Pitcher Jon Lester (back) joined Jason Varitek (knee) and Trot Nixon (biceps) on the DL.
The Yankees’ Carl Pavano, who is in the middle of a $39.95 million, four-year deal, told the team he suffered two broken ribs in a mid-August car accident. The team had hoped Pavano, who hasn’t pitched in a year, would be able to return this week.
