The San Diego Padres beat the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon to run their record to 64-52. Despite trading Juan Soto and losing Blake Snell, Michael Wacha, Josh Hader and Seth Lugo in the offseason, the Padres are currently sitting in playoff position in the National League, which is a great accomplishment.

What’s also a great accomplishment is that Padres’ third baseman Manny Machado continues to move up the all-time list in Padres home run history. By hitting his 18th of the season on Thursday, Machado now has 156 career homers in a Friars uniform.

Per @StatsCentre:

Swatting a 2-run blast in the 1st inning of his @Padres eventual 7-6 win against PIT earlier today, Manny Machado has belted 156 of his 331 career home runs while in a San Diego uniform. As well, it has tied him for 3rd on a franchise list he needs only another 8 in order to lead

Machado, who signed with San Diego before the 2019 season, has 331 homers overall. He’s played with the Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers and Padres in his now 13-year career. One of the most productive players in baseball over the last decade, he’s trying to get the Padres back to the playoffs for the first time since 2022.

San Diego is one of just a few teams (Mariners, Rays, Brewers, Rockies) that have never won a World Series.

San Diego will head further South on Friday to open up a new series with the Miami Marlins. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET.

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SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The San Diego Commission on Police Practices is taking the first step in investigating how San Diego Police officers handle pretext stops in the city.

A pretext stop is when an officer stops someone for something minor, like a broken taillight, with the pretext to look for a more serious crime.

During the meeting, the commissioners heard from the community, sharing how pretext stops impacted or changed their lives.

The DeArman family was one of the families who spoke.

Christopher DeArman was shot and killed by San Diego Police officers in January of 2023.

San Diego Police say he was initially stopped for a broken brake light.

After initially pulling DeArman over in Barrio Logan, police say he took off again, leading officers on a short pursuit.

After stopping for the second time, police say the body camera footage shows DeArman shooting at officers. DeArman was shot and killed.

His family feels officers escalated the stop that led to DeArman’s actions and feel their son would still be alive today if he had just been issued a citation and let go.

According to the commission’s chair, the meeting is the first step in examining how SDDP handles pretext stops and recommending any needed changes.

Data presented at the meeting showed that SDPD officers were more likely to pull over people of color for equipment violations, like a broken brake light, and were more likely to search Latino and Black people at a higher percentage compared to white people.

Police Chief Scott Wahl attended the meeting and acknowledged the disparities.

Chief Wahl vowed to restore trust, focus on training and address any bias.

If the commission decides to make any recommendations to the department, the chief has 60 days to adopt or reject any changes.

California’s governor flew in for the event. Throngs of media gathered, while the City of San Diego warned of traffic jams. The San Diego Zoo rolled out the red carpet Thursday for the first public showing of its newest residents. Visitors watched the two giant pandas sunbathe and chow down on bamboo in their new home, the first pandas to enter the US in two decades. For years, the Chinese government has loaned pandas to zoos around the world in a practice called “panda diplomacy.” These fuzzy ambassadors have long been a symbol of the US-China friendship, ever since Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, DC, in 1972.

The opening ceremony included dancing, music, and remarks from Gov. Gavin Newsom, Chinese ambassador Xie Feng, and local officials. “This is about something much deeper, much richer, than just the two beautiful pandas we celebrate,” Newsom said. “It’s about celebrating our common humanity.” The governor recognized the zoo as the first organization in the US to establish a cooperative panda conservation program with China. Ambassador Xie said he met someone on his flight traveling from Washington, DC, to see the pandas. “Two little panda fans from California wrote several letters to me proposing giving China grizzly bears to get pandas,” Xie said, eliciting laughs.

Both pandas were born at the Wolong Shenshuping Panda Base in China’s Sichuan province. Yun Chuan is a nearly 5-year-old male described by the zoo as “mild-mannered, gentle and lovable.” He is the grandson of Bai Yun and Gao Gao, who both lived at the San Diego Zoo for more than a decade. Xin Bao is a nearly 4-year-old female described as a “gentle and witty introvert with a sweet round face and big ears.” Only four other giant pandas reside in the US, all at the zoo in Atlanta. However, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is to receive a new pair of pandas by the end of the year. As part of the loan agreement, US zoos typically pay $1 million a year toward China’s wildfire conservation efforts. All cubs born in the US must return to China by age 4.

(More giant pandas stories.)