BRYCE BRAWL!!

SAN FRANCISCO — Drilled in the hip by a heater, Bryce Harper knew where this was headed. In a hurry, too.

“You see red,” he said. Enraged, the Washington slugger charged the mound, fired his helmet and traded punches to the head with reliever Hunter Strickland, setting off a wild brawl Monday during the Nationals’ 3-0 victory over the Giants.

“You never want to get suspended or anything, but sometimes you just got to go and get them and can’t hesitate,” Harper said. “You either go to first base or you go after him and I decided to go after him.”

The two players have a history stemming from the 2014 playoffs, when Harper hit two home runs off Strickland and glared at the reliever as he rounded the bases after the second one. This was the first time they faced each other since then.

This flashpoint came in the eighth inning — with two outs, none on and Washington ahead 2-0, Strickland hit Harper with the first pitch, a 98 mph fastball. Harper didn’t wait. The four-time All-Star pointed his bat at Strickland, yelled at him and took off.

“My head was on a swivel, as quick as I could to not get taken out by somebody on their team or anything like that,” he said.

No one got in Harper’s way as he rushed the mound. His eyes were wide as he flung his helmet — it wasn’t close to Strickland, it might’ve slipped — and they started swinging away. The 6-foot-4 Strickland hit Harper in the face, then they broke apart for a moment before squaring off again. Harper punched Strickland in the head as the benches and bullpen emptied.

“I was trying to go after him, with the helmet or with myself, just doing what I needed to do to keep it going, I guess,” Harper said.

Giants teammates Michael Morse and Jeff Samardzija collided hard as they tried to get between the two fighters. Three Giants players forcefully dragged Strickland from the middle of the pack all the way into the dugout, while a teammate held back Harper. Harper and Strickland were both ejected. No injuries were reported in either clubhouse.

Strickland said he missed his spot. “I left the ball over the plate a couple of times to him,” he said. “He’s taken advantage of that, so I went inside. Obviously, I got in a little too far.”