HOUSTON._ Dusty Baker became the twelfth manager in the history of the Big leagues to reach 2 thousand wins, after the Astros de Houston blanked Tuesday 4-0 at Seattle Mariners.
No black driver has as many wins as Baker.
Cuban Yordan Álvarez and Venezuelan José Altuve hit solo home runs, while rookie Jeremy Peña drove in two runs to help the Astros string together their second victory.
Ten of the other 11 managers who have amassed at least 2,000 wins are in the Hall of Fame. The exception is Bruce Bochy, who made 2003 but is not yet eligible for the Cooperstown venue.
Baker, 72, one of just two black managers in the majors, has a career record of 2,000-1,745 and is the only manager in major league history to lead five different teams to the postseason. .
He said being the first African-American manager to reach the milestone in the majors makes the achievement more significant.
“It has an additional meaning, for culture and society,” he said. “Also for my race and, hopefully, so that others have a chance, so that I am not the only one.”
It is the latest milestone in Baker’s distinguished career as a player and driver, spanning more than 50 years.
He has made it to the World Series twice as a manager, including last season with the Astros and 2002 with the Giants. As a player, he appeared three times in the Fall Classic with the Dodgers and was crowned in 1981 as a powerful hitting left fielder.
Cristian Javier (2-0) gave up two hits in 5 2/3 innings of his second start after opening the season in the Houston bullpen.
Three relievers combined after Javier’s departure to scoreless the Mariners for the second straight game after winning 3-0 in the series opener on Monday.
There was one out in the fourth when Alvarez homered off Chris Flexen (1-4) across center field to make it 1-0. The Cuban has homered in consecutive games and totals four homers in his last five games.
