Hot dog, is this pennant race about to explode!

Todd Zolecki from the Philly Inquirer reports that a suspicious package of hot dogs caused a bomb scare at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday before the Braves-Phillies game. Some fans were even evacuated from the stadium and the box containing the offending franks was blown up by the bomb squad (with relish, of course), all apparently while the Phillies continued taking batting practice.

No buns or mustard were said to be harmed in the disarmament of the wieners.

However, the same could not be said for the dogs’ delicious casing and inner contents.

The hot dogs, to be used as a prop in a commercial starring the Phillies mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, were wrapped heavily in white packaging and duct tape (think anthrax scare), and were to be fired by the Phanatic through its hot dog launcher (think overgrown aardvark with a bazooka) before imaginations and fears became overactive.

Perhaps with exploding wieners weighing heavily on their mind, the Phillies later fell to the Atlanta Braves 10-4, thus missing an opportunity to put the second-place New York Mets in a real pickle. The Mets lost to the Cubs and find themselves in ketchup mode, 1 1/2 games behind the NL East leaders.