May 12, 2009 10:10 AM EST

The Rangers will have Josh Hamilton back in center field on Tuesday night after a stint on the DL with a strained rib cage muscle.

Texas was 9-4 without Hamilton, and they'll enter Tuesday night's action in first place.

"I told them I'd be happy to stay on the DL if they would keep winning," Hamilton said Monday. "If I come back and we start losing, they can sit me on the bench and we'll do this again."

Via Dallas Morning News