ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves faced plenty of criticism after they failed to pick up a top-line starting pitcher at the trade deadline.Bryce Elder and Grant Holmes have pitched like they didn’t need one.Elder threw one-hit ball over seven innings Wednesday, a night after Holmes pitched six scoreless innings to lead a pair of victories over the Miami Marlins.First-place Atlanta has won a season-high seven in a row and leads the Philadelphia Phillies by 8 1/2 games in the NL East. “One of our messages to players, especially young players, is you’ve got to find something that puts a chip on your shoulder in this league or the rest of the league will chew you up,” manager Walt Weiss said after Elder’s sterling performance in a 4-1 victory. “Maybe that’s their response to the narrative over the last several days.”The only hit off Elder was a soft liner that fell in front of left-fielder Lane Thomas and would up a double when Jakob Marsee hustled to second to beat the throw. Owen Caissie, who had walked with one out, raced around to third on the play, putting Elder is his first serious trouble of the night.
Joe Mack grounded out to drive in a run, but Elder retired Javier Sanoja on a flyout to end the threat. That was it against Elder, who breezed through the next two innings with just one other base-runner on third baseman Austin Riley’s throwing error.
