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Washington Nationals center fielder Nyjer Morgan found himself at the center of his biggest controversy yet Wednesday night, when he charged the mound and threw a punch at Florida Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad to kick off a bench-clearing brawl (see video here) between the two teams in the sixth inning of the Nats' 16-10 loss to Florida.

Morgan was angered when Volstad threw a pitch behind him, the second time the Marlins hurler appeared to take aim at the speedy outfielder. As that second purpose pitch flew past catcher Brad Davis and to the backstop at Sun Life Stadium, Morgan paused briefly, then tossed his bat aside and rushed toward Volstad. Morgan's punch appeared to glance off the side of Volstad's head, and almost immediately thereafter he was clotheslined by first baseman Gaby Sanchez and pummeled by a number of his other Marlins teammates.

"He hit me the first time, so be it. But he hit two other of our guys? All right, cool. But then he whips another one behind me, we got to go," Morgan said of the events that pushed him over the edge. "I'm just sticking up for myself and just defending my teammates. I'm just going out there and doing what I have to do."

Morgan and Volstad, who had a bruise on his face in post-game interviews, were tossed from the game along with Marlins pitcher Jose Veras and manager Edwin Rodriguez. Nationals manager Jim Riggleman and pitcher Doug Slaten were ejected later in the game when Slaten hit Sanchez in the hip with a pitch.