Miami — If it's too late for the Braves to save their season, someone forgot to tell Jorge Campillo.

With a trade deadline looming and optimism waning in Braves Nation, the 29-year-old rookie pitcher from Tijuana provided a bit of hope with a dominant performance Monday night in 4-0, series-opening win against the Florida Marlins.

AP (ENLARGE)

Braves' right-hander Jorge Campillo allowed two hits over seven innings.

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"I know this week is very important for us," Campillo (5-4) said after pitching seven innings of two-hit ball to start a six-game trip on a strong note at Dolphin Stadium and get rid of some nasty aftertaste from a lost weekend.

Campillo was perfect through four innings and allowed only one runner to reach second in seven innings. Will Ohman and Mike Gonzalez each pitched a perfect inning to complete the two-hit shutout of the slugging Marlins.

"Didn't surprise me; he's been that good all year," manager Bobby Cox said of Campillo, an improbable success story since moving from the bullpen to the rotation because of early-season injuries to Braves starters.

The former Mexican League veteran had six strikeouts and one walk, and induced a double play by hot-hitting Cody Ross to end the fifth inning, when the Marlins put two runners on base for the only time.

"He kind of lulls you to sleep," said Marlins first baseman Mike Jacobs, who singled in the fifth before Ross' double-play grounder. "He was mixing his pitches up, keeping guys off-balance, and we just weren't able to get anything going."

The Braves were embarrassed while giving up 31 hits and 23 runs in consecutive losses to Washington Saturday and Sunday at Turner Field, defeats that dropped them to six games behind the second-place Marlins and 6-1/2 behind National League East co-leaders New York and Philadelphia.

With the July 31 trade deadline just around the corner, discussions about the team had switched from whether they had what it would take to make a postseason push to resignation and what they could get in trades for slugger Mark Teixeira and lefty Ohman, both eligible for free agency after the season.

But for a night, at least, Campillo showed the Braves haven't given up.

"It was Campy's night," said third baseman Chiper Jones, whose two-out single in the fifth inning pushed the Braves' lead to 2-0. "He was in complete control of a very good lineup. He kept them off-balance all night, kept the guys at the top of the order off base — he pretty much kept everybody off base."

Teixeira drove in Jones with a two-out double in the fifth, and Martin Prado added a pinch-hit double to score Mark Kotsay in the ninth for a 4-0 lead. Kotsay drove in the first run with a bases-loaded single in the second inning.

"We got a lot of clutch hitting tonight from different guys," said Cox, whose fourth-place Braves won for only the seventh time in 18 games.

The Marlins lead the league with 140 homers and have come from behind to win 27 games this season, including an 11-inning win Sunday against the Phillies.

"This [Marlins] club comes from behind more than any club in baseball," Cox said. "So you always have that in the back of your mind, that they have the hitting to do that. To shut them down like he did, Campillo did a super job."

Whether the Braves can carry momentum forward for the rest of this series and a weekend series in Philadelphia remains to be seen. They haven't had a winning road trip all season, and it might take one now if they still hope to convince the front office to hold on to Teixeira and perhaps add a bat for a playoff run.

They beat a Marlins team that came in fired up, with a shot at pulling even with idle New York and Philadelphia. The Braves made a statement, for one night.

"When you execute," Jones said, "when pitchers execute their pitches and throw to locations, change speed ... when your hitters have good at-bats, go deep into counts, get two-out hits with runners in scoring position, and you play solid defense, you're going to win. Plain and simple, you're going to win."

The Braves need to do a lot more of it if they hope to remain relevant beyond July.