BALTIMORE -- In 1993, his first season as a Major League manager, Dusty Baker’s Giants won 103 games -- and that was only good for second place in the National League West. Baker has reached the postseason 12 times in the three decades since, but for 24 seasons, that big, round triple-digit victory total eluded the skipper who ranks second on the career wins list among active managers.

It still does, if only for the moment. The Astros and their manager both remain on the cusp of joining elite company; Friday’s 6-0 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards kept Houston stuck on 99 wins, but it only delayed the inevitable. The Astros (99-53) retain the American League's best record despite finding themselves on the wrong side of Dean Kremer’s shutout, with 10 regular-season games remaining. Reason suggests they will win at least one of them.

When they do, they’ll become the first club in AL history to reach 100 victories four times in a span of five full seasons, per the Elias Sports Bureau. Houston's 100th win will also put Baker in more rarefied air. He would become only the fourth manager in MLB history to win 100 games in a season in both leagues, joining Sparky Anderson, Whitey Herzog and Tony La Russa in the exclusive club.

This was news to Baker when informed of the looming history Friday afternoon.

“Might as well go for it then!” Baker said. “You’re telling me something I didn’t know. Well, what’s next?”

For the Astros, next is wrapping up the No. 1 seed in the AL heading into their sixth consecutive postseason appearance (their magic number to clinch the top spot remains five over the Yankees, who beat the Red Sox on Friday), then determining how best to deploy their pitching for another deep postseason run. In this year’s new playoff format, the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds receive a first-round bye and advance directly to the Division Series.

“We don’t know if that’s going to be advantageous or not,” Baker said. “You don’t know if guys are going to be a little rusty coming back. We have to figure out a way to keep them sharp and stay motivated.”

Part of that is assessing how José Urquidy fits on the postseason staff after following a terrific 16-start stretch with two six-run outings leading up to Friday’s effort of mixed results. Urquidy was effective but inefficient, needing 94 pitches (60 strikes) to log 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball on a night he was probably pitching for a playoff roster spot. Even with the encouraging outing, the right-hander might be destined for the bullpen with the Astros likely needing only three starters for the best-of-five Division Series.

“I was in the right spot. I was trying to throw pitch-by-pitch with a lot of confidence, and I think it worked,” Urquidy said.

The bigger issue Friday was the offense, which was shut out on back-to-back days for the first time since Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, 2021. The Astros have now lost four of five games to the Orioles this season, dropping the season series to Baltimore for the first time since 2014.

“They are a good team,” Urquidy said.

If the Astros can rebound in the last two games of this series, they could leave Baltimore with a chance at the franchise’s single-season wins record. Their 99 wins ties the most in franchise history through 152 games; with 10 games left, they’re eight wins shy of the record of 107 set in 2019. Even after two straight losses, they’ve won 10 of 13, 12 of their past 16 and sport a 15-6 record in September.

“You always want 100,” Baker said. “I’ve always wanted 100 since my first year. I didn’t even know what I’d done until La Russa told me: ‘Dusty, you don’t know what you’ve done, do you?’ I said, ‘No, not really. We were just trying to play.’ He said: ‘100 games is a lot of games, that’s not very easy to do.’

“My benchmark was always 90. That will put you somewhere in playoff contention. I always tried to have winning months, because that adds up to … now that we had a chance to get 100, we might as well get 100, know what I mean?”

All told, Baker’s 2,086 career wins rank ninth all-time. The 73-year-old Baker is not under contract for 2023 and remains unsure if he will manage past this season. But if this is his last year at the helm, he’s one victory away from bookending an all-time career with 100-win campaigns.

“I don’t think there is any significance to getting 100 [wins], other than getting to the playoffs,” Baker said. “The key is to get to the dance. If you get to the dance, anything can happen.”