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In the 13th game of a stretch where the Nationals play on 15 consecutive days, the last thing Washington needed was a an extra-inning game. Despite a quality start from John Lannan, and timely hitting from the Nats batters, the club couldn't hold on and lost 4-3 in the bottom of the 10th at Wrigley.

The 2010 Major League Baseball season is still young, but a glance at the standings reveals a few unexpected teams at or near the top as the weekend came to a close.

Following a disappointing 2009 at the plate, From Flushing breaks down how David Wright's swing has changed through recent years.

Running your mouth, egging on the competition, or just being a flat out jerk are just some of the aspects of baseball we tend to forget. And while being the casual knucklehead trash talker is to be expected, some players are known for taking things too far.

I tried to gather 10 of the biggest trash talkers and/or agitators currently in the game. Some of these players are worse than others, while some of them are just your average jabber-jawer.

Josh Beckett’s woes continue.  Roy Halladay proved that he’s not a machine.  Colby Rasmus & Marlon Byrd are on absolute tears.  Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

Pitchers

The Oakland Athletics were gracious enough to hook Bleacher Report up with a press pass and a closer look at their collection of young talent.

After a weekend break, Fantasy Baseball Insiders Tonight  is back with everything you need to know from Monday night’s action. Game No.

In no uncertain terms, the Red Sox significantly stepped up the pressure on catcher Victor Martinez Monday when they signed Cuban Adalberto Ibarra to a Major League contract worth anywhere between $3 and $4.3 million over five years.

Like Carlos Zambrano, big-time pitchers Justin Verlander, Jake Peavy, and Josh Beckett are off to awful starts. They are not alone. Names like Jon Lester, Aaron Harang, Javier Vazquez, Chad Billingsley, and Jeremy Bonderman join them on this list of the top ten worst pitchers in 2010.

Virtually all of these pitchers have two things in common. They were expected to be aces, stoppers, shutdown grinders, strike-one dealers. They are all disappointing.

Let’s take a look at how bad they all really are, see if they’re improving, and ask ourselves:

Is this just an April shower?

Josh Beckett continued to live up to the four-year, $68 million deal given to him by the Boston Red Sox prior to the season.