Mitch Atkins began his professional baseball career in 2004, at a time when many of the current Richmond Flying Squirrels were playing Little League.

But Richmond discovered that the old man can still pitch.

Aneury Tavarez, left, and Danny Bethea celebrate after scoring on a single by Ryan Court in the seventh inning Sunday, helping the Sea Dogs pull away for a 7-1 win against Richmond. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Atkins, 30, carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, leading the Portland Sea Dogs to a 7-1 win Sunday afternoon at Hadlock Field.

Richmond shortstop Christian Arroyo, 21, broke up the no-hit bid with a double to lead off the seventh.

“It was a cutter away,” said Arroyo, who struck out in his previous at-bat in the fourth inning. “He threw strikes, mixed speeds well and kept the ball up.”

Atkins (2-2) exited after the hit. Arroyo eventually scored, leaving Atkins with a line of six innings, one hit, one run, one walk and seven strikeouts.

“Just able to control my fastball,” Atkins said. “I had good command, established the inner part of the plate, and it just kind of fell into line from there.”

Aneury Tavarez paced the Portland offense with three hits, including a solo home run to right field in the second inning. He also doubled home a run in the fourth. Ryan Court singled in two runs and Rainel Rosario tripled in a run. Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 4 with a RBI single.

Tavarez, a left-handed hitting outfielder, has been on a bit of a tear, batting .343 in his last 23 games.

“His approach is much better,” Sea Dogs Manager Carlos Febles said. “He’s not trying to do too much and he’s seeing the results, hitting from pole to pole. What’s most impressive is that he’s hitting left-handing pitching; (before) he couldn’t hit lefties at all.”

The Sea Dogs scored four runs off Richmond left-hander Andrew Suarez (2-3) and jumped on the bullpen for three more runs.

Suarez, a second-round draft pick last year, is one of the Giants’ top pitching prospects.

Atkins, on the other hand, is past his prospect days, when he was the Cubs’ seventh-round draft pick in 2004 out of high school in McLeansville, North Carolina. Atkins pitched seven games for the Cubs in 2009-10 and three game for the Orioles in 2011.

Since then, Atkins has roamed the minors with the Nationals and Braves organizations, and has played winter ball in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. He also pitched in Taiwan last year.

Atkins has never thrown a no-hitter. On Sunday, he retired the first 16 batters before issuing a full-count walk to Steve Lerud. But he retired the next two batters to get out of the sixth.

“Location, location, location,” Febles said. “He had three pitches working for him (a 90 mph fastball, a cutter and a curve). He did exactly what he wanted to do with the baseball.”

Atkins used 23 pitches in the sixth inning to bump his count up to 78. Febles said he was not thinking of taking Atkins out while the no-hitter was in play.

In the top of the seventh, Arroyo shot an outside pitch down the right-field line.

“It was a good pitch,” Atkins said. “It’s all you can do.”

Febles came out to get Atkins, who left to a loud ovation. Portland led 3-0 at the time. Reliever Luis Ysla allowed an RBI single, but that was all for Richmond.

NOTES: The announced paid attendance was a sellout at 7,368, although the box seats had several no-shows. … Court was 2 for 4 and is batting .342. … The Sea Dogs left after the game for a six-game road trip, starting Tuesday in Bowie, Maryland, and ending next Sunday in Richmond, Virginia. … The team comes back to Hadlock Field on June 21 (Jackie Bradley Jr. Bobblehead giveaway). … In Triple-A Pawtucket, former Sea Dogs starter Aaron Wilkerson threw six shutout innings (three hits, seven strikeouts) in a 1-0 win. Former Sea Dogs Robby Scott and Noe Ramirez added scoreless relief. … In advanced Class A Salem, Trey Ball allowed no runs over 5 1/3 innings in a 6-5 win. Yoan Moncada, Mauricio Dubon and Rafael Devers all had two hits.

The Sea Dogs schedule has been adjusted again because of the stadium construction delay in Hartford, Connecticut. The Yard Goats had been using Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Connecticut, but that facility will house a New York-Penn League team soon. The Sea Dogs-Yard Goats game that was rained out last week in Norwich will now be played in Portland on July 1 as part of a 6 p.m. doubleheader. Additionally, the Sea Dogs games scheduled for July 8-10 in Hartford will now be played over two days in Binghamton, New York, with one game on July 8 and a doubleheader the next day.

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