ATLANTA — Grant Holmes tried his best to ignore the speculation surrounding the Atlanta Braves’ need for starting pitching at Monday’s trade deadline. But muting the noise didn’t prevent it from lingering in his mind. He used it as fuel to up the intensity in his bullpen sessions between recent starts, and on Tuesday night, it paid off.Holmes threw six scoreless innings, scattering five hits and a walk while striking out five in a 4-2 win over the Miami Marlins. In doing so, he backed up the confidence expressed by president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos a day earlier.“It kind of fires you up a little bit,” said Holmes, who had only three MLB starts with at least six scoreless frames before Tuesday. “When somebody trusts in you, it’s a whole lot easier to go out there every five, six days and do your best, compared to going out there when somebody doesn’t believe in you.”When the cutoff for trades passed, the Braves had added only Tyler Mahle to their rotation. They didn’t offer packages that might have reeled in Casey Mize, Robbie Ray or Kevin Gausman. They flirted with a trade for Jacob deGrom, but The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported the Rangers starter wanted to remain in Texas.None of those misses made Anthopoulos less confident that his current group of starters is strong enough to carry the team into the postseason.Veteran pitcher Martín Pérez echoed the sentiment Tuesday afternoon. The pitching staff’s outlook during the second half, Pérez said, hasn’t centered on getting external help. The group has been focused on internal accountability from the players who have been in the room.“I think (the front office has) a lot of confidence in what we have here in the clubhouse; that’s what we’ve got, and that’s what we have to compete with,” Pérez said. “So, we just keep doing the work, keep playing together and executing the little things. As pitchers, we have to stay focused on getting batters out so that, by the end of the night, we get that 27th out and win the game. That’s the main thing.”Holmes’ 3.92 ERA in the second half of the season doesn’t show the whole picture of his value in the Braves’ rotation. He has reached the fifth inning in three of his four starts. And dating to May 12, he has not allowed more than three earned runs in one outing, a stretch of 14 consecutive starts.His numbers may not compare to what Mize, Ray or Gausman may offer their new teams. But if Holmes keeps delivering quality outings and limiting strain on the bullpen, it may prove to be more than enough for the Braves.“Players will take that stuff personally, and that’s OK,” manager Walt Weiss said. “I always say to players, ‘Find something that puts a chip on your shoulder.’ I don’t care what it is, but you’re going to need that in this league. And if it’s people saying stuff like that, so be it.”Now that the trade deadline has passed, the conversation shifts. The Braves’ rotation isn’t going to be made over. The team will have to make do.Mahle gives Atlanta another experienced arm, Chris Sale has been elite and Bryce Elder is rediscovering what made him successful a few years ago. The rest of the slack has largely fallen on pitchers like Holmes and Pérez, both of whom have given the Braves what they’ve asked for.After the final out was recorded Tuesday night, nobody inside the clubhouse was thinking about the trades that never happened. They were focused on another strong outing from a top-10 rotation in ERA that has continued to answer the call despite the number of injuries that have affected it.“As a team, and given what we have to compete with, we couldn’t have any other mindset,” Pérez said. “They were going to look for a pitcher — maybe a big-name pitcher with a huge track record and a massive history at this level — just like the batter they brought in. As pitchers, we have to stay focused on getting batters out so that, by the end of the night, we get that 27th out and win the game.”