Josh Hamilton's road back to the majors went through Nashville, Tenn. on Sunday, and a former Cy Young winner was on the mound. Barry Zito, trying to make a comeback at age 37 with the Oakland Athletics (or anyone in the majors who might give him a shot), faced him in Hamilton's first rehab start for the Triple-A team of the Texas Rangers. The Angels traded him to the Rangers on April 27 after news broke in February that Hamilton had a drug relapse.

Josh Hamilton (left) and Barry Zito
Hamilton and Zito: Former greats trying to recapture past glory. (USATSI)

Hamilton went 1 for 3, hitting an opposite-field single to left in his first at-bat before striking out twice. He left the game, as planned, in the sixth inning, the Dallas Morning News reports. Hamilton had been working out at Rangers extended spring training, rehabbing his surgically repaired right shoulder.

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Zito topped out at 85 mph on his fastball, but Hamilton still found the confrontations useful. Via the DMN:

"It helps as far as him being crafty and knowing how to pitch," Hamilton said following his 1-for-3 effort against Zito. "Obviously I would have liked to have seen a guy throwing 89 and up, but at the same time you're going to see guys like him throughout the year at some point. A guy like him spots his balls and he's got different velocity curveballs. A guy like him being a lefty was probably the best thing for me today."

Hamilton saw 14 pitches in his three at-bats. He took six pitches for balls, swung and missed at six, watched a called third strike and reached base safely on the lone ball put in play.

Zito left Hamilton off-balance for much of his final two at-bats, striking him out by featuring a variety of breaking balls that were barely registering 70 MPH on the stadium radar gun.

"Barry wasn't throwing gas today," Hamilton said, laughing. "But overall my body is feeling good, which is the important thing."

Hamilton won the AL MVP in 2010, and Zito the AL Cy Young in 2002. Hamilton's prospects for a return to the majors seem inevitable, but that's not the case with Zito, who has a 4.70 ERA in seven starts and 38 1/3 innings so far. His strikeout and walk rates are a little higher than his most recent major league season with the Giants in 2013. But he did strike out Hamilton with some deceptively slow stuff.

Zito was never blowing the ball past guys anyway. With all of the injuries the A's have sustained so far, well ... maybe he has a chance to come back after all.