Benches clear in Nats-Braves game

Whether it was the way he walked out of the box after hitting the homer or the time he took around the bases, something about Bryce Harper’s third inning solo shot evidently bothered Julio Teheran.

The Braves starter retaliated in the fifth inning by beaning Harper with a 94 mile per hour fastball in the right thigh, igniting a near brawl that saw both benches and bullpens clear and warnings issued to both teams.

After getting hit in the leg Harper tossed his bat and stepped towards Teheran, yelling and pointing at him, clearly displeased with what he felt was an intentional strike. Teheran walked off the mound and towards Harper before home plate umpire Joe West jumped in Harper’s way to diffuse what nearly became an ugly situation.

Teheran said he was surprised with Harper’s reaction, sticking to his story that he was just trying to throw a fastball in and it got away from him. Harper on the other hand, wasn’t surprised Teheran would target him after the homer.

“I hit that ball pretty far off him, so no, not really,” he said.