The Washington Nationals have handed veteran right-hander Jonathan Papelbon a four-game suspension without pay for his role in a brawl with teammate Bryce Harper, according to a club announcement.

Papelbon also received a three-game suspension for his beaming of Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado. Combine the two suspension's and the Nationals closer will miss the rest of the season.

The altercation occurred during the bottom of the eighth inning of yesterday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies when Harper re-entered the dugout after having flew out to Jeff Francoeur in left field.

It appears as if Papelbon yelled something at Bryce along the lines of "run the ball out" and Bryce saying back, "you gotta be kidding me," as narrated by the Nats television crew on MASN before the incident broke out which included Papelbon grabbing Harper by the neck and slamming him against the dugout wall.

Bryce Harper being restrained by his teammates after him and Jonathan Papelbon got in a fight -- Greg Fiume/Getty Images

While this was going on, manager Matt Williams was on the other side of the dugout and reportedly did not happen to notice the fight taking place as things quickly escalated from ugly to uglier.

On Monday, Williams spoke with the media where he said that he didn't have a full grasp of what had transpired in the dugout until he watched a video of it following the game. He said that had he known the complete details of incident immediately, he would not have sent Papelbon back out to pitch.

"I take responsibility for that. I could have gotten more information."

As per Harper's status, Williams announced before their makeup game with the Cincinnati Reds that he would not play, partly because he was already scheduled to have an off day.

With only a week left to go in the 2015 regular season, there are many questions to be answered. One, is this the last time we see Papelbon in a Nationals uniform? Two, what will the club's decision come down to once the conclusion is reached? Those won't be answered until the offseason but they will hot button topics as the Nationals look to reload after a disappointing season.

In a statement from GM Mike Rizzo, he said, "The behavior exhibited by Papelbon yesterday is not acceptable. That is not at all in line with the way our players are expected to conduct themselves and the Nationals organization will not tolerate it in any way."

While playing for the Phillies and Nationals this season, Papelbon recorded a 2.13 ERA with a record of 4-3, having pitched in 63.1 innings throughout a total of 59 games played.

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