Ramos making a late case for the opening day catching job (Nats win 11-2)

VIERA, Fla. - Wilson Ramos is having himself a ballgame. And with opening day now just five days away, you have to wonder whether it will influence manager Davey Johnson's decision on who will be his opening day catcher. Ramos has crushed two home runs today - one to right field in the third inning and one way out to left field in the fourth - both on the first pitch of the at-bat. The first home run was of the solo variety, the second was a three-run shot. Coming into today, Ramos was homerless on the spring, so these longballs marked his first since blowing out his right knee last May. For the spring, over 32 at-bats, Ramos has now posted a slash line of .375/.375/.594 with two homers, a double and five RBIs. For the sake of comparison, Kurt Suzuki's slash line over 35 at-bats is .286/.366/.457. Johnson has talked about how regardless of which catcher he chooses to start opening day, he'll be a smart guy. Given the way these two guys have hit this spring, he might just be right. Ramos wasn't the only guy to homer in the fourth inning; Ryan Zimmerman demolished a solo shot off the scoreboard in left leading off the inning, and Tyler Moore followed Ramos' blast with a homer over the World of Beer deck beyond the left field wall. The first seven batters to come to the plate in the bottom of the fourth for the Nats all reached base, and six came around to score. It's 8-0 Nationals in the fifth. Ross Detwiler has thrown five shutout innings, allowing five hits, walking one and striking out one. Sharp outing, albeit one against the Braves' "B" lineup. Update: Zimmerman just went yard again, this one to right, making it a 9-0 Nats lead. The Nationals have five home runs through five innings. Update II: Detwiler couldn't avoid the homer-fest, serving up two solo shots in the sixth before Johnson came to get him. The left-hander is done after 5 1/3 innings of work. His final line: 5 1/3 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 2 Ks, 92 pitches, 57 strikes. Detwiler will now have nine days off before making his regular season debut against the Reds on April 6. Update III: It's an 11-2 Nationals split-squad win over the Braves. The Nationals hit six homers, three by Zimmerman. In the other split-squad game, down in Jupiter, the Nats lost 10-1 to the Cardinals. Taylor Jordan got the start in that one, allowing nine runs (seven earned) in 2 1/3 innings.