Lobaton back with Gonzalez, but not because lefty didn't mesh with Ramos

Jose Lobaton will be behind the plate tonight against the Cardinals, resuming his regular battery with left-hander Gio Gonzalez.

Wilson Ramos got the unusual call to catch for Gonzalez in his last start May 23 in a 7-1 loss to the Mets. Gonzalez struggled, going five innings and allowing seven runs on 10 hits, including three homers, with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Nationals manager Dusty Baker said Lobaton is back catching Gonzalez, but not because because Ramos called a bad game or the chemistry wasn't right.

"That wasn't Ramos' fault, it's that Gio didn't locate," Baker said. "It just looked bad that Ramos happened to be catching. I think Gio even said it himself. He didn't make good pitches and locate them. I think Ramos got like, what, he catch like six days in a row?

"I could see where it was taking its toll a little bit because he wasn't driving the ball the last few days. He was kind of rolling over. It's like, OK that's enough."

Ramos has had a good start to the season, batting .324, and has hit .329 in May. But the last five games, he has hit just .167 (3-for-18).

Baker also said he wasn't giving Ramos the day off because of another hot and humid forecast for D.C.

"We went from winter to summer; I don't even think we had spring," Baker said. "I don't think the hot weather really bother Ramos. Where he's from, it's smoking hot in Venezuela. He wasn't swinging good, that's all."

In 40 games with Lobaton behind the plate, Gonzalez has a 3.16 ERA. In the 45 games Ramos has caught him, Gonzalez's ERA is 3.60.

Baker had a great line when asked if he noticed how much second baseman Daniel Murphy talks with the home plate umpire during each at-bat.

"He likes to talk to everybody," Baker said. "He talks to the first baseman. He talks to everybody. He's on base enough to talk to people, to continue a conversation."

Murphy has 40 hits in the month of May, tying a Nationals record. Murphy leads the major leagues in multi-hit games with 24, batting average (.393) and hits (70).