Bryce Harper took exception to an inside pitch from the Cubs' Lendy Castillo. (AP)

Earlier this year Bryce Harper quietly took his base when he was hit by Cole Hamels. When the Cubs' Lendy Castillo threw inside in the sixth inning on Thursday, he wasn't backing down, instead he stepped to Castillo, leading to a benches-clearing incident at Nationals Park.

In the end, Cubs catcher Steve Clevenger and pitcher Manuel Corpas, as well as Nationals reliever Michael Gonzalez were ejected. It was the second time benches cleared in the game, as Nationals' third-base coach Bo Porter and Cubs bench coach Jamie Quirk got into a shouting match at the edge of the Cubs' dugout. Quirk was ejected, but Porter was not.

The Nationals finished off a four-game sweep of the Cubs by a total score of 31-9.

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