The Los Angeles Dodgers organization said Thursday that it asked federal immigration agents to leave the Dodger Stadium grounds after they arrived at a parking lot near one of the gates.

Dozens of federal agents with their faces covered arrived in SUVs and cargo vans to a lot near the stadium’s Gate E entrance. A group of protesters carrying signs against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement started amassing shortly after, local media reported.

“This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots. They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization,” the team said in a statement posted on X.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement posted on X that its agents were never there.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said the agents were with Customs and Border Protection and that they were not trying to enter the stadium.

“This had nothing to do with the Dodgers. (Customs and Border Protection) vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement,” she said in an email.

The team said the game against the San Diego Padres later Thursday will be played as planned.

Television cameras showed about four agents remained at the lot Thursday afternoon while officers with the Los Angeles Police Department stood between them and dozens of protesters, some carrying signs that read “I Like My Ice Crushed” and chanting “ICE out of LA!”

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez arrived at the stadium and said she had been in communication with Dodger officials and the mayor’s office.

“We’ve been in communication with the mayor’s office, with the Dodgers, with Dodgers security, about seeing if they can get them moved off their private property,” she told KABC-TV. “Public property is different. Private property -- businesses and corporations have the power to say, ‘Not on my property,’ And so we’re waiting to see that movement happen here.”

Protests began June 6 after federal immigration raids arrested dozens of workers in Los Angeles. Protesters blocked a major freeway and set cars on fire the following days, and police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades.

The team has yet to make a statement regarding the arrests and raids. The Dodgers’ heavily Latino fan base has been pushing for the team to make a public statement and ignited a debate online about its stance on the immigration crackdown happening in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers had been expected to issue a statement of support toward Los Angeles-area communities affected by immigration enforcement, but no statement had been released by 5 p.m. Thursday.

“Because of the events earlier today, we continue to work with groups that were involved with our programs,” Dodgers President Stan Kasten told a small group of reporters. “But we are going to have to delay today’s announcement while we firm up some more details.”

Dodgers set franchise attendance record

The Dodgers announced they have surpassed 2 million in attendance in just 40 games this season.

The defending World Series champions have had 2,026,238 through the gates so far. The team said Wednesday that it’s the fastest they’ve reached that mark in franchise history.

Last season, it took 42 games and in 2019, when the Dodgers set their all-time season attendance mark of 3,974,309, it took 43 games.

The team also announced that Shohei Ohtani will next pitch on Sunday against the Washington Nationals.

The two-way superstar made his mound debut for the Dodgers on Monday against the San Diego Padres, throwing one inning and allowing one run and two hits. He also batted leadoff as the designated hitter and had two hits.

Fan climbs netting at Wrigley Field for bat

From villain, to superhero.

A fan was removed by security before returning to cheers on Thursday after he climbed Wrigley Field’s protective netting near first base to retrieve a bat that slipped through Sal Frelick’s grasp and became lodged there.

The Milwaukee outfielder’s bat got stuck about 10 feet up after a swinging strike in the top of the sixth.

Giving it his best Spider-Man effort, the fan clambered up the screen and pulled the bat into the seating area before being removed by guards. He returned minutes later to cheers from the crowd of 41,078, the Cubs largest this season.

Caglianone goes deep twice for first in MLB

Kansas City Royals rookie Jac Caglianone got his first night off as a major leaguer in part because of a left-handed starter for the Texas Rangers.

A day later, the first two big league homers for the powerful 22-year-old prospect came in lefty-lefty matchups against relievers.

Caglianone went deep leading off the second and ninth innings of a 4-1 victory over the Rangers on Thursday as the Royals completed their first three-game sweep at Texas since five months after Caglianone was born in 2003.

“I don’t know how smart I was sitting him against a lefty,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He hit two homers on a lefty today.”

The first was against Jacob Latz, when Caglianone swung at a 95.5 mph fastball above the strike zone and pulled it 387 feet into the Texas bullpen in right-center field for a 3-0 Kansas City lead.

“I didn’t realize until I saw on video how far up I got him,” said Caglianone, whose 6-foot-5 frame makes high fastballs look even higher.

Caglianone, the sixth overall pick in last year’s amateur draft out of Florida, hit 15 homers in 50 games combined with Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha before getting called up June 3.

The homers came 13 days after Caglianone made his debut with an 0-for-5 showing at cross-state rival St. Louis. He was hitting .194 after going hitless in the series opener against Texas. He sat against lefty starter Patrick Corbin on Wednesday night.

Briefly

Phillies >> The Philadelphia Phillies moved right-hander Aaron Nola to the 60-day injured list on Thursday, a week after he injured his ribcage while trying to work himself back from a sprained right ankle. Nola had been out since early May with the ankle injury.

He experienced stiffness in his right side last week in Toronto that wiped out a planned session against live batters, and an MRI showed a stress reaction in his right ribcage.

Diamondbacks >> The Arizona Diamondbacks put catcher Gabriel Moreno on the 10-day injured list Thursday because of a contusion on his right hand.