ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rangers manager Ron Washington doesn't want to do it, but the fact that he said he'd at least have to think about it suggest that something very strange is going on when Josh Hamilton plays under the sun.

"Oh, no doubt about it," Washington said. "People keep telling us the numbers."

Washington sat Hamilton in Monday night's 4-3 win against the Los Angeles Angels after a horrible hitting weekend in Toronto. But Washington, who said Hamilton appeared mentally and physically fatigued, might have waited one game too long to rest him.

Hamilton went 1-for-13 in Toronto, including 0-for-8 in day games on Saturday and Sunday, extending a career-long trend of awful hitting in the daytime. This season has been no exception.
Hamilton is a career .236 hitter in day games compared to .309 at night. This season, he's batting .206 with one home run and three RBIs in 16 day games. In 21 night games, Hamilton is batting .314 with six home runs and 20 RBIs.

The Rangers play three outdoor day games next week. Washington said he'd have to consider sitting Hamilton the next time Texas plays a day game, which would be Sunday to end the current homestand against the Chicago Cubs.

"It's not anything that I've discussed with anybody, so I might have to think about that," Washington said. "He doesn't do very well in the daytime."

Texas also plays day games at Kansas City a week from Wednesday and at Minnesota's new outdoor ballpark a week from Saturday.

Hamilton has said in the past that he doesn't see the ball as well in the daytime, but on Monday he said he's learned to prepare better for daytime games. Prior to Monday's game, a Rangers staffer handed out stat sheets in the clubhouse that showed day-night production. Hamilton said he couldn't stand to look.

"I folded it up, threw it in the trash without even looking at it, so I don't want to know," Hamilton said. "I know it can't be good."

Washington would certainly hate to remove one of his middle-of-the-lineup sluggers just because the sun's out. Fortunately, for Washington, next week's three day games are a scheduling oddity.

"When you got a ballplayer that can make as much of a difference in a ballgame as Hamilton, sometimes you got to help him fight through things that numbers might say they can't do," Washington said. "With his athletic ability, there shouldn't be any reason why he can't play whenever he plays. But, it's something to think about."