Adam Kloffenstein and Rafael Montoro combined on a two-hit, seven-inning shutout as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders blanked the Buffalo Bisons, 2-0, in the first game of a doubleheader Friday at PNC Field in Moosic.
Buffalo took the second game, 8-3, to earn a split.
Kloffenstein allowed one hit — a one-out single to Riley Trotta in the top of the fifth — with one walk and seven strikeouts in six innings. Montero relieved in the seventh and gave up a one-out single to Charles McAdoo. However, he struck out the final two batters looking.
In the bottom of the second, the RailRiders took a 1-0 lead. Oswaldo Cabrera doubled, moved to third on a groundout to second by Seth Brown and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Ernesto Martinez Jr. Then in the third, consecutive one-out singles by Jonathan Ornelas, George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones made it 2-0.
A five-run top of the first inning by the Bisons against RailRiders starter Dom Hamel enabled them to take control of the nightcap. Trotta had an RBI single, Josh Rivera a three-run triple and William Simoneit an RBI groundout.
The RailRiders got two runs back in the bottom of the first on a home run by Jones and an RBI double by Cabrera. But Simoneit hit a two-run home run in the top of the third to give Buffalo a 7-2 lead. Cabrera had another RBI double in the bottom of the third. Rivera closed out the scoring for the Bisons with an RBI single in the fifth.
On Saturday at 3:05 p.m., the series is scheduled to continue with the RailRiders’ Brendan Beck going against Buffalo righty C.J. Van Eyk. It concludes Sunday at 1:35 p.m. with Luis Gil to start for the RailRiders against Jose Berrios on a rehab assignment with the Bisons.