OSAKA (Interstat) — Takayuki Katoh pitched eight shutout innings Saturday as the Nippon-Ham Fighters defeated the Orix Buffaloes 3-0 at Osaka Dome. Katoh allowed three hits, struck out three and walked none to improve to 4-1. Taisei Yanagawa earned his seventh save with a perfect ninth inning. Yuki Nomura drove in all three runs for Nippon-Ham, singling in a run in the first inning and hitting a two-run homer in the fifth. The Fighters collected 12 hits, including two each from Nomura, Yua Tamiya and Yuya Gunji. Orix managed only three hits against Katoh and Yanagawa. Ryuhei Sotani took the loss, allowing three runs on 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings. The attendance was 35,592. The game lasted 2 hours, 46 minutes. Nippon-Ham improved to 17-20; Orix fell to 22-13.