ATLANTA -- With their margin for error minimal, the Braves boarded their charter plane on Sunday night in need of a good West Coast road trip, one that can keep them in the National League East race before they adjourn for the four-day All-Star break.

"We had to have this game, especially going into a long road trip," said Mark Teixeira, who had the game-winning single in Sunday's 7-6 win over the Astros in 17 innings. "If we had lost this one, it would have been a tough one to swallow and a bad start to a road trip."

The Braves believe they have a good chance to make up ground this week against the Dodgers and Padres, two sub-.500 NL West teams. But they also said the same thing about the skidding Astros, who came into Atlanta with a three-game losing streak, yet convincingly won Game 2 of the series without their ace, Roy Oswalt, and needed 17 innings before finally fading on Sunday.

"Let's just enjoy this," third baseman Chipper Jones said. "We'll hopefully talk about the start of a streak tomorrow."

Atlanta has finished below .500 at the All-Star break just twice in the past 17 seasons. In 2006, it was 40-49 at the break. It is currently five games under .500 and six games back of Philadelphia in the NL East, with six games to go before the Midsummer Classic on July 15.

Sunday's win marked the Braves' first series victory since taking two of three from the Mariners, the Majors' worst team, on June 20-22. They had dropped three consecutive series and four of their past five.

A six-game, seven-day road trip will begin on Monday, when Jorge Campillo pitches the series opener against Dodgers right-hander Hiroki Kuroda.

The Braves will send their three best starters -- Campillo, Jair Jurrjens and Tim Hudson -- to the mound during this three-game set against the Dodgers, who are a half-game back of first place in the NL West, despite holding a 42-45 record.

Campillo gave up five runs on eight hits, including two homers, in a loss on Wednesday to the Phillies. In his past four starts, he is 1-3 with a 4.44 ERA (13 earned runs in 26 1/3 innings).

After missing nearly three weeks with right shoulder tendinitis, Kuroda returned to the rotation on Wednesday and pitched seven scoreless innings against Houston.

In an April 20 start against Atlanta, Kuroda gave up two runs on seven hits in six innings and took the loss.

Pitching matchup
ATL: RHP Jorge Campillo (3-3, 2.99 ERA)
Campillo uncharacteristically struggled with his control on Wednesday night, and he paid the price against a talented Phillies lineup. Whenever he falls behind, the right-hander's varied repertoire of pitches becomes limited. This was the second time the Phillies had seen him as a starter and his fourth appearance against them. The Dodgers haven't seen the 29-year-old rookie hurler this season. But there might be some reason to wonder if the NL will have better success against him when it get its second look later this season.

LAD: RHP Hiroki Kuroda (4-6, 3.73 ERA)
Three weeks on the disabled list did the trick for Kuroda, who returned with seven scoreless innings against the Astros and showed no signs of the right shoulder tendinitis that sidelined him. He scattered five hits, walked only one and threw an efficient 83 pitches, with his fastball clocked around 94 mph.

Tidbits
Injured reliever Rafael Soriano (right elbow) threw a bullpen session on Sunday, and he could begin a Minor League rehab assignment as early as this week, Braves general manager Frank Wren said. "He threw well, but he's not quite there," Wren said. Pitching coach Roger McDowell said Soriano told him he was "about 80 percent" after throwing a bullpen session. "It's really encouraging," McDowell said. "Hopefully, we can get that other 20 percent back sometime and he can help us." ... Left-hander Tom Glavine (elbow) is expected to throw from flat ground for the first time on Tuesday. Glavine has been on the 15-day disabled list since June 11 with a partial tear in his flexor tendon. ... Jones is 2-for-3 lifetime against Kuroda, and Teixeira has a hit in two career at-bats against him.

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Up next
• Tuesday: Braves (Jair Jurrjens, 8-4, 3.09) at Dodgers (Chad Billingsley, 8-7, 3.12), 10:10 p.m. ET
• Wednesday: Braves (Tim Hudson, 9-6, 3.19) at Dodgers (Derek Lowe, 6-8, 4.02), 10:10 p.m. ET
• Thursday: Off-day