Jonathan Papelbon attacks Bryce Harper in Nationals dugout

BRYCE Harper is one of the biggest stars in baseball but that didn’t stop his teammate from violently attacking him midway through a game.

Teammates fight in major blow up

THROWING at opposing batters wasn’t easing Jonathan Papelbon’s frustration. So he turned to a teammate.

The chaos surrounding the disappointing Nationals hit — and we do mean hit — a zenith on Sunday, the team’s closer attacking the team’s biggest star in their own dugout.

Papelbon appeared to criticise Harper, one of the game’s best players, for not running out a pop-fly in the eighth inning against the Phillies. The two jawed for a time, as Papelbon, who had just been dealt a three-game suspension for throwing at Baltimore’s Manny Machado, moved to the top step of the dugout.

Jonathan Papelbon attacking Bryce Harper? Jonathan Papelbon attacking Bryce Harper. pic.twitter.com/T2qof97Ymh

— Jake Russell (@_JakeRussell) September 27, 2015

The back-and-forth continued once Harper reached the dugout, until the closer, who was acquired mid-season, put his hands on Harper’s neck and drove him toward the dugout wall.

Players moved in to separate the two. Harper was removed from the game — a 4-4 tie at that point — while Papelbon trotted out for the ninth, when he promptly allowed five runs and the floodgates to open in an eventual 12-5 loss.

The Nationals, one of the World Series favourites to begin the year, had been dealt their final blow in the division a day prior, when the Mets wrapped up the NL East.

It’s been a trying a season for Washington, which shelled out a huge contract to Max Scherzer in the off-season to complement an already stacked rotation and had a vaunted offence. Disappointments across the board, however, derailed a promising season, and frustrations were bound to spill out.

Originally published as Jonathan Papelbon attacks Bryce Harper in Nationals dugout