NC Dinos chase KBO playoff spot as makeup games begin

NC sits four-and-a-half games out of the final postseason spot ahead of a pivotal weekend series against Doosan.

NC Dinos players and coaching staff react after winning a match against the Kia Tigers in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, on Sept. 2.
YONHAP

A year after squeezing themselves into the Korean baseball postseason with a late push, the NC Dinos are trying to mount another run as the 2026 campaign enters its final stretch.

Starting this week in the KBO, teams will begin playing makeup games instead of a pair of three-game sets.

The Dinos are in sixth place at 55-59-2 (wins-losses-ties), four-and-a-half games behind the Doosan Bears at 62-57-4 for the final postseason spot. The Dinos had their seven-game winning streak snapped Sunday, while the Bears ended their five-game slide on the same day.

The clubs’ earlier wild swings saw the gap between these two clubs narrow from eight games on Aug. 30 to three-and-a-half games prior to Sunday’s action.

And these two rivals will clash at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa District, southern Seoul, the Bears’ home, for two games on the weekend.

The Bears hold an 8-3-0 edge in their season series against the Dinos. But the Dinos have seven games in hand, making the current four-and-a-half-game gap seem not insurmountable.

Last year, the Dinos won their final seven regular-season games to grab the final postseason spot.

The Bears’ offense finally woke up Sunday to the tune of 12 hits and 16 runs against the SSG Landers. In their previous five games, the Bears had managed only four runs, while getting shut out twice in that stretch.

At the top of the standings, the Samsung Lions with the record of 72-46-3 have climbed back to first place by winning two straight games. The KT Wiz with the record of 69-46-3 have fallen behind by one-and-a-half games after dropping three straight games.

Teams will play a different number of games each week going forward. For instance, the Wiz play the full, six-game slate this week, but the Kiwoom Heroes only have three games.

There will be more traveling than usual, too. The Wiz begin their week against the SSG Landers at home in Suwon, just south of Seoul, on Tuesday, but will play the next day in Daegu against the Lions.

Then on Thursday, the Wiz will be in Busan for two games against the Lotte Giants. The Wiz will then be back in Suwon for the weekend to play the Kia Tigers on Saturday and the Giants on Sunday.

The Dinos will also be all over the map this week, with a game at home in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, two in Gwangju and then another in Daejeon. They will then travel to Seoul to take on the Bears.

Yonhap