SAPPORO (Interstat) — Takayuki Katoh pitched a three-hit shutout with three strikeouts as the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters blanked the Orix Buffaloes 6-0 on Wednesday evening at Sapporo Dome. Katoh, now 8-1, allowed no earned runs over nine innings. The Fighters scored single runs in the first, fourth, sixth and seventh innings before adding two in the eighth. Chusei Mannami homered and drove in two runs, going 2-for-4. Ariel Martinez also homered. Kengo Yoshida and Shu Yamagata each drove in a run. Yua Tamiya added an RBI single. Daiki Tajima took the loss, falling to 2-4 after allowing four earned runs over seven innings with six strikeouts. Orix managed only three hits, two by Kotaro Kurebayashi. Nippon-Ham recorded 12 hits. Attendance was 29,105. The game lasted 2 hours, 20 minutes. Nippon-Ham improved to 44-33-1, while Orix dropped to 38-35-1.