Bees lose no-hit bid in 10th
Atencio tossed seven no-hit innings and the Bees carried the gem into the 10th before settling for a one-hitter and a 1-0 victory over the Fort Wayne Wizards on Friday night.
A 23-year-old right-hander, Atencio was 2-2 in 11 relief appearances before getting the start in the second game of Friday's doubleheader. He walked three and struck out six, but got no offensive support.
With the game only scheduled to go seven innings, Chad Blackwell kept the no-hitter intact until the 10th, when Tom Vincent hit a one-out single to left field. Vincent reached second on a wild pitch with two outs, but Blackwell (6-1) struck out Brian Fryer to end the threat.
With the clock approaching 12:45 a.m. local time and a Midwest League curfew looming, Irving Falu led off the bottom of the 10th with a single. He raced to third and Geraldo Valentin reached safely on an error by first baseman Peter Ciofrone. After Kyle Stutes (0-1) intentionally walked Edward Lucas, Damaso Espino singled to end the twinbill.
Burlington posted a 5-3 victory in the opener, which was delayed by rain for more than two hours in the middle of the second inning. The Bees have won three straight and five of their last six games.
Fort Wayne's Vern Sterry matched Atencio for six innings, yielding just four hits and striking out four without a walk. He was followed by Ricky Steik, who worked around two hits and two walks in two innings.