(Sports Network) - Texas hasn't missed Mark Teixeira's bat too much since dealing him at last year's trade deadline. The Atlanta first baseman makes his return to Rangers Ballpark at Arlington tonight, when the Braves begin a three-game series with the Rangers.

The Rangers sent Teixeira to the Braves in a seven-player trade on July 31 of last year, a move that many saw as the beginning of a rebuilding phase in Texas. After all, Teixeira had batted .283 with 153 homers and 499 RBI in 693 career games with the Rangers, who took him in the first round (5th overall) of the 2001 draft.

However, thanks to the acquisitions of Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley, the emergence of David Murphy, as well as the continued solid play of Michael Young and Ian Kinsler, the Rangers are ranked first in the majors in runs batted in (378) and runs scored (394). The club is also tops in the American League with a .283 team batting average.

Texas is also a game under .500 (35-36) after splitting a doubleheader with the Mets on Sunday. Ramon Vazquez, Bradley and Kinsler all homered in an 8-7 victory to win the first test, but the Rangers were unable to muster much offense in a 4-2 loss in the nightcap.

Vazquez had four RBI in total in the first game, while Kinsler's two hits extended his run of reaching base safely to 28 games. That streak ended in the second game, though, as the second baseman went 0-for-4 without a walk.

In the nightcap, Hamilton drove in his major-league leading 73rd run of the season, while Young also had an RBI. Hamilton has two homers in four career games versus Atlanta.

Meanwhile, Teixeira's Braves are 3-4 on a 10-game, four-city road trip after winning Monday's makeup game in Colorado. Jair Jurrjens (7-3) silenced the Rockies' bats over 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing eight hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.

The victory was just the Braves' 10th in 35 road games this year.

Chipper Jones had two hits and a pair of runs batted in to lift his MLB-best batting average to .403. Jones had been hitless in his last two games, and is hitting .348 (8-for-23) in six lifetime games versus Texas.

Jones and Teixeira will also be trying to get the 35-36 Braves back to .500 tonight. To accomplish that feat, the Braves turn to pitcher Tim Hudson.

Hudson has been solid over his last two starts, but has gotten a no-decision each time. He gave up just a run on five hits in 7 2/3 innings against the Phillies on June 6 before holding the Cubs to a run on seven hits in 6 2/3 frames of work on Thursday. The Braves dropped one-run decisions each time.

In fact, Atlanta is 0-4 over Hudson's last four starts despite the right- hander posting a 2.22 earned run average in that span. He is 0-1 in his last four starts and 7-4 with a 2.76 ERA this year.

Hudson, who pitched with Oakland from 1999-2004, is 6-5 with a 4.01 ERA in 16 starts versus the Rangers. He struggled last time he faced them, allowing five runs on five hits -- including two homers -- and five walks over just 2 2/3 innings.

The Rangers counter with Vicente Padilla, who has won six of his last seven decisions. After losing to Tampa Bay on June 6, Padilla got a win on Wednesday against Kansas City despite giving up five runs (4 earned) on seven hits over six innings of an 11-5 victory.

The righty is 8-3 with a 3.89 ERA this year, but has a 5.25 ERA in two June starts so far. However, it has been a turnaround season for the 30-year-old, as he won just six games in 23 starts last year.

Having pitched with Philadelphia from 2000-05, Padilla has faced the Braves 17 times, 16 of those starts, and is 5-8 with a 3.67 ERA against them. However, he went 0-2 with a 10.29 ERA in two 2005 starts versus Atlanta, giving up eight runs in seven total innings.

These two clubs last met in Texas in 2005, with the Rangers winning two of three. The Braves did sweep a three-game series in Texas in 2002.