Strasburg throws off flat ground, Ramos moves up to fifth

LOS ANGELES - Stephen Strasburg played catch in the Dodger Stadium outfield this afternoon, the first time he had thrown a ball since an upper back strain left him unable to start Monday night's game.

It's still too soon for the Nationals to know if Strasburg will be able to make his next scheduled start Sunday in Milwaukee, and he'll likely need to throw off a bullpen mound one of the next two days to do that. But today's step was an encouraging one.

"Yeah, it's an encouraging sign," manager Dusty Baker said. "It's very encouraging. Like I said, we hope that he'll make his next start. We're still hopeful for that. But hope is what it is, hope."

Baker reiterated that the Nationals don't want to wait until the last minute to make a decision on Strasburg like they did Monday, when they chose to scratch the right-hander about 90 minutes before first pitch against the Dodgers and start reliever Yusmeiro Petit instead.

The Nationals also do have the option of pushing Strasburg back to Monday or Tuesday's game against the Mets if they think he needs another day. Thanks to tomorrow's day off, the club could push Tanner Roark and Joe Ross up and still start both pitchers on normal rest.

Other news and notes before tonight's game ...

* Baker said he had been thinking about moving Wilson Ramos up to the fifth spot in his lineup for a while but didn't feel like it was a necessary move until today. The decision was based not only on Ryan Zimmerman's struggles in key spots - he struck out with the bases loaded last night, leaving him 0-for-9 in those situations this season - but also on Ramos' production and improved hitting approach all year.

He finally pulled the trigger, much in the same manner that he moved Daniel Murphy into the cleanup spot behind Bryce Harper last month.

"The only reason I didn't have big Ramos hitting behind Murph is that Ramos is prone to the double play," Baker said. "Or another reason, if I had to (pinch) run for Ramos, now I've got a big hole right in the middle of my lineup, where I've got to fill with a lesser hitter or a pinch-hitter. ... There's a lot of thought that goes into that. Plus, I told Zim: 'Hey man, right now, he's just hotter than you.' "

* Speaking of Ramos, Baker gave his explanation for not pinch-running for his catcher in the seventh inning of last night's loss. (Left fielder Howie Kendrick wound up throwing out Ramos at the plate on Roark's two-out single, spoiling an opportunity to add to what was then a 2-0 lead.)

"Depends if I was at home or on the road," the manager said. "And it depends what inning it was. Plus, we had a lead. Plus, what are the chances of running Ramos with Tanner hitting and him getting a hit? If I run for Ramos, Tanner's hitting, he strikes out and then they tie it up, and then Ramos' spot is coming up in the 10th or the 11th. Then what are you going to say? You can't have it both ways. I know we want it both ways. Just like if somebody told me that (Yasmani) Grandal, who was hitting terrible, was going to hit a three-run homer. If you could've told me that, I would've done it differently."