'Double play→Double play→Double play→Double play→Double play' Such humiliation, even a special late-night report from a hotel group is useless. 'Finally plummeting to last place' — what now?

*This content was translated by AI.

For NC Dinos, it could not have been a more brutal streak of bad luck. In a single game, double plays occurred in five of the nine innings. It was a match that simply could not be won.

On the 21st, NC lost 0-1 to the Doosan Bears in an away regular-season game of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium.

With this defeat, NC fell into a three-game losing streak, finishing with 18 wins, 1 draw, and 25 losses, plummeting to last place in the league.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that misfortune wrapped around NC throughout the entire game.

In the first inning, leadoff batter Kim Ju-won reached base via a hit-by-pitch from Doosan's starting pitcher Wes Benjamin. He then advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Kwon Hee-dong, but Park Min-woo grounded out to the shortstop, and Davison grounded out to third base.

The nightmare of double plays began from the second inning. With leadoff batter Lee Woo-seong reaching base on a walk, follow-up batter Park Geon-woo hit a ground ball to the shortstop for a double play.

In the third inning, leadoff batter Kim Hyung-jun reached base with a hit to left-center field, but Kim Han-byul hit a ground ball to the second baseman for a double play, hanging his head. Then in the fourth inning, leadoff batter Park Min-woo again hit a bouncer that deflected toward the shortstop after hitting the pitcher, but follow-up batter Davison was out on a fly ball to left field, and Lee Woo-seong was thrown out on a ground ball to the first baseman for another double play, dousing any hope.

Thus, despite having leadoff batters reach base in four consecutive innings from the first to the fourth, NC failed to score.

In the fifth inning, another double play occurred. After one out, Han Seok-hyun hit a ground ball to right field for a hit, but Kim Hyung-jun hit a ground ball to the shortstop for a double play.

The sixth and seventh innings ended with three up, three down. In the eighth inning, NC faced Benjamin on the mound again. Leadoff batter Park Geon-woo hit a single, and Han Seok-hyun hit a sacrifice bunt, creating a one-out, second-base opportunity. However, Kim Hyung-jun was out on a fly ball to left field, and Do Tae-hoon grounded out to the shortstop.

Misfortune continued to plague NC until the final inning of the ninth. After one out against reliever Lee Young-ha, Kwon Hee-dong reached base with a hit to left-center field. He was replaced by pinch runner Park Si-won. The next batter was Park Min-woo. But his hit ball eventually went straight to the shortstop. Doosan shortstop Park Chan-ho stepped on second base, threw to first, and connected for another double play. This was NC's fifth double play of the day.

Starting this week, NC has been implementing special post-game training to overcome the team's overall batting slump. NC manager Lee Ho-jun, the team's commander, stated, "Starting from the 19th, we decided to gather the entire team at night after moving to the hotel. For the foreseeable future, we plan to continue night training regardless of home or away games. It's nothing grand. It also means we want to communicate and talk with each other. Besides swing practice, hitting coaches will discuss the poor performances from that day's game."

He continued, "Our recent results have been poor, so we must do something. We cannot just keep saying 'we can't hit' and move on. Simply resting is not the solution. Even the veterans readily agreed to participate. (Foreign batter) Davis also attended. Every player on the team is participating. Even the pitching coaches were there. I will be watching from the field. Last year, when the team was struggling, we also held night training. Now we must try everything." However, despite the special post-game training, NC hung their heads after hitting five double plays.

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*This content was translated by AI.