He entered game one of the doubleheader in the top of the fourth with Montreal trailing 4–0, and he proceeded to pitch three scoreless innings of relief before being lifted for a pinch hitter. He had allowed three hits, struck out one, and walked no one.
At the age of 21 Atkinson split the  season between the Triple-A Denver Bears and Montreal. With Denver he was 6–3 with a 3.99 ERA with 15 saves in 51 games, all in relief.