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MetsATLANTA (AP) — Bryce Elder pitched one-hit ball over seven innings, Drake Baldwin drove in two runs and the Atlanta Braves won their season-high seventh in a row, beating the Miami Marlins 4-1 on Wednesday night.
Elder (8-6) turned in another excellent start after a tough June, surrendering his lone hit on a fifth-inning liner to left that Jakob Marsee hustled into a double. Owen Caissie, who had walked, raced to third and scored on Joe Mack's groundout.
That was it against Elder, who is 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA over his last four starts. Didier Fuentes got the final four outs for his second career save after Dylan Dodd allowed a pair of singles in the eighth.
Baldwin capped a three-run second inning against Eury Pérez (5-9) with a two-out single to center that brought home a pair of runners. Austin Riley drove in the first run of the night with a ground-rule double.
Mauricio Dubón sent home Atlanta's other run with his 600th career hit. The RBI single came after a bizarre play in which Michael Harris' apparent steal of third was nullified when Mack's throw ricocheted off Dubón's helmet and flew into the stands, resulting in an interference call on the hitter.
After the first-place Braves failed to pick up a top-line starting pitcher ahead of the trade deadline, Elder and Grant Holmes made strong cases for the rotation Atlanta already has. Holmes threw six scoreless innings in the series opener, a 4-2 win for Atlanta.
The Braves, who came into the night with a 7 1/2-game leader Philadelphia in the NL East, have won five out of six series since the All-Star break. They improved to 7-2 against the Marlins this season.
Pérez surrendered seven hits and all four Atlanta runs over five innings, though he did record nine strikeouts.
Atlanta's Matt Olson played in his 896th consecutive game, breaking a tie with Stan Musial for the eighth-longest run on MLB’s career list. His next target is Joe Sewell, who played 1,103 games in a row.
On the other hand, Braves catcher Sean Murphy played his first game since May 10 and just his fifth in an injury plagued season that began with him still rehabbing from shoulder surgery. He went 1-for-4.
Braves LHP Martín Pérez (7-6, 3.24 ERA) takes the mound Thursday looking for a sweep of the three-game series against RHP Janson Junk (5-6, 4.58).
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
