Bryce Harper charges mound, gets punched in face (Video)

Bryce Harper charged the mound after Hunter Strickland beaned him with a fastball. 

The rivalry between the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants is an underrated one. It goes back to the 2014 NLDS, when the latter beat the former (and went on to win the World Series). Bryce Harper was huge in that series, getting two key home runs against Giants reliever Hunter Strickland.

Since then, the two have had bad blood. Things got personal on Memorial Day after Strickland beaned Harper with a fastball. The batter immediately charged the mound, tossing his batting helmet aside to throw punches with the pitcher. It appears Strickland gets a few punches to Harper’s face before the benches cleared.

As mentioned, Harper and Strickland definitely have a history. It’s unknown for sure if their past had any part in today’s events, but it’s quite likely. Here are Harper’s two home runs against Strickland in the 2014 NLDS.

The brawl kind of came out of nowhere, which explains why it takes a few seconds for anyone to get between the two brawlers. If you remember last year’s fight between Manny Machado and Yordano Ventura, the fight was basically over before the two could land more than one or two punches.

Next: 14 Biggest MLB Brawls Ever

Both players should be suspended for their actions. If history is an indicator, expect Strickland to be dealt with more strictly. Ventura initially got nine games (later cut to eight games) while Machado got four games. However, last year’s shenanigans were different because Ventura clearly threw at him with intent on more than one occasion. Strickland didn’t do this with Harper.