Dave Roberts’ Dodgers are one step closer to a rare managerial milestone after a 4-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday, June 28. Roberts earned his 998th career victory and can reach 1,000 as soon as Tuesday’s game against the Athletics in Sacramento.
A familiar scoreboard moment came with something bigger lurking underneath it for Dave Roberts.
Roberts earned his 998th managerial career victory as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 4-2 on Sunday, June 28. The number isn’t just a statistic for a longtime dugout fixture—it’s the distance to a milestone few managers ever reach.
Heading into the week, Roberts was just two wins shy of 1,000. The Dodgers will have the chance to get there in the second game of a three-game series against the Athletics in Sacramento.
The schedule sets up the pressure. Los Angeles plays the first game of that series on Monday, June 29, with a 6:40 p.m. PT start. By Tuesday, with Roberts within reach of the 1,000-win mark, the milestone could land quickly—if the Dodgers can carry momentum into the next contest.
Roberts’ path to the milestone has been unusual, starting long before his current streak of success with the Dodgers. He earned every one of his managerial victories with Los Angeles, despite beginning his managerial career with a single game for the Padres.
That early chapter began when Roberts served as interim manager for the Padres on June 15. 2015. after San Diego fired Bud Black. In that interim stint, the Padres suffered a 9-1 loss to the then-Oakland Athletics at Petco Park. Pat Murphy was then hired to take over as interim manager for the rest of that season.
When Roberts took over with Los Angeles in 2016, the trajectory changed. He finished that season as the Manager of the Year after leading the Dodgers to a 91-71 record.
The winning also came with a heavy postseason résumé. Roberts has won three World Series titles and five National League pennants with the Dodgers.
The sequence looks straightforward on paper—win by win, season by season—but the timing is what makes it tense. With the Dodgers already up to 998 and the Athletics series mapped out in Sacramento. the 1. 000th win is no longer a distant goal; it’s a countdown that starts with Monday’s 6:40 p.m. PT game and could culminate Tuesday in the second match of the set.
For Dodgers fans, it won’t just be another series opener. It’s the moment where Roberts’ career total stops being a number and starts becoming a headline the moment the next win—then the next—lands.
Dave Roberts Dodgers Padres Athletics MLB 1000th managerial win managerial milestone June 28 June 29 Sacramento
998… wow next game better not mess around.
I swear these milestone articles always make it sound like it’s guaranteed. Didn’t they lose a bunch last month too?
Wait so he won 998 as Dodgers manager but started with Padres?? So is the 1,000 win like against the Athletics or literally any win ever? My brain hurts reading it.
Bud Black got fired and then Roberts was interim for the Padres for like one game and they got destroyed 9-1, but now he’s almost at 1,000? baseball is wild. Also why is Sacramento suddenly a thing, like they can’t just do it in LA? If they’re up 998 then just give him the 1,000 already lol.