FRISCO – The baseball savior appeared Monday night 35 miles northeast of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Perhaps when Josh Hamilton is ready to rejoin his teammates, he should parachute in.

The Rangers are clearly looking for a gift from the heavens.

Hamilton is aware that he is viewed as the solution to what ails Rangers hitting, and he was looking forward to the challenge.

"I like expectations," Hamilton said before going 1-for-4 with a walk, stolen base and an RBI single in the RoughRiders' 5-4 victory over Corpus Christi. "I put way more expectations on myself than anybody can. So I'm looking forward to it."

Hamilton had surgery June 9 to repair a partially torn abdominal muscle. He has not played since being injured May 31.

During that time, the Rangers have dropped to second place and gone from a strong hitting team to a weak one. Before his injury, Hamilton was hitting .240 with six home runs and 24 RBIs. But if he can rediscover the stroke that resulted in a .304 average with 32 home runs and 130 RBIs last year, he may ignite the other Rangers hitters.

Clearly the Rangers need that sort of hitter. But they'll have to wait. Hamilton will join Triple-A Oklahoma City in Iowa for a three-game series Wednesday.

"I will stay [in the minor leagues] until I get my timing right and I feel good enough to go back," Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the first night went as expected. He was rusty facing live pitching for the first time in a month.

He was not challenged on his first at-bat by Corpus Christi pitcher Brad James, swinging at one pitch and fouling it off.Hamilton walked on five pitches.

Hamilton's single in the seventh broke a 1-1 tie and the RoughRiders went on score three more runs, including one by Hamilton, who stole third base.