SAPPORO (Interstat) — Takayuki Katoh pitched a three-hit shutout, striking out three and walking none, and the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters blanked the Orix Buffaloes 6-0 on Wednesday evening at Sapporo Dome.

Katoh threw 9 innings of three-hit ball, allowing no earned runs and issuing no walks while striking out three. He retired the side in order in the first, third, fifth, sixth and ninth innings and faced only 30 batters, one over the minimum. The complete game shutout was the first of the season for Katoh, who improved to 8-1.

Daiki Tajima took the loss for Orix after allowing four earned runs on nine hits over seven innings. He struck out six and walked one. Tajima fell to 2-4.

The Fighters scored single runs in the first, fourth, sixth and seventh innings before adding two in the eighth to seal the win.

In the first inning, Shun Mizutani singled to shallow center, Tatsuki Mizuno singled to shallow right and Franmil Reyes grounded into a double play that moved Mizutani to third. Chusei Mannami then singled to shallow right to score Mizutani for a 1-0 lead.

The fourth inning began with Rodolfo Castro tripling to center. Yua Tamiya singled to shallow right, scoring Castro to make it 2-0. Tamiya was later caught stealing to end the inning.

Mannami led off the sixth with a solo home run to left-center, his second hit of the night, extending the lead to 3-0. Ariel Martinez added a solo home run to left in the seventh, making it 4-0.

The most important sequence of the game came in the eighth inning when the Fighters broke the game open with two runs. Yuki Nomura led off with a single to first. After Mannami grounded out to the pitcher, Nomura advanced to second. Kengo Yoshida doubled down the left-field line, scoring Nomura. Shu Yamagata then singled to shallow left, driving in Yoshida for a 6-0 advantage. Yua Tamiya grounded into a double play to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Orix mustered only three hits in the game. Shortstop Kotaro Kurebayashi had two of them, singling in the second and eighth innings. Kenya Wakatsuki singled in the ninth for the Buffaloes’ only other hit. Orix never advanced a runner past second base. The Buffaloes grounded into two double plays, including a rally-killing double play in the eighth when Tomoya Mori grounded to the pitcher with a runner on first.

The Fighters amassed 12 hits. Mannami finished 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. Castro went 1 for 3 with a triple. Yoshida was 1 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Tamiya went 1 for 4 with an RBI. Yamagata was 1 for 1 with an RBI. Martinez went 1 for 3 with a home run. Mizutani had two hits, and Mizuno had two hits.

Attendance was 29,105 at Sapporo Dome, and the game lasted 2 hours, 20 minutes.

The victory extended the Fighters’ winning streak to two games. They defeated the Buffaloes 9-2 on Tuesday. Nippon-Ham improved to 44-33-1, while Orix dropped to 38-35-1. The Buffaloes have lost two straight and four of their last five overall.

In their previous 10 head-to-head meetings this season, the Fighters have won seven, including the last two. The teams conclude their two-game series Thursday at Sapporo Dome.

Orix’s next 10 games include the Thursday rematch against the Fighters, followed by a three-game home series against the Seibu Lions starting Friday, a two-game home set against the Softbank Hawks on July 7-8, a three-game road series against the Chiba Lotte Marines on July 10-12, and a road game against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on July 14.

Nippon-Ham’s next 10 games include the Thursday game against Orix, a three-game road series against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on July 3-5, a two-game road series against the Chiba Lotte Marines on July 7-8, a three-game home series against the Seibu Lions on July 10-12, and a home game against the Softbank Hawks on July 14.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 5, Orix Buffaloes 3. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Nippon-Ham with a 59.70 percent probability to win. Orix had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 0 went over the over/under line of 7.5.