Author: moepea

I like lilacs, mist and cold air.

A House Is Not a Home When There’s No One There.. A’s conclude dismal home stand with 5-2 loss to the Red Sox

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–In 1964, the Burt Bacharach/Dionne Warwick hit machine gave us a “House Is Not A Home.” Now 58 years later, the 2022 A’s seemed to be smothered by the song’s theme with little possibility for an escape.

On Sunday, with A’s fans outnumbered by Red Sox fans 3 to 1 according to the highly scientific measurements on Twitter, Oakland’s hometown team fell quietly to Boston, 5-2 to conclude a 1-9 “home” stand.

The woeful A’s are now 7-23 at the Coliseum, and in reach of a worst-ever record in 45-plus seasons at the Coliseum, with the forgettable 1979 season (31-50 at the Coliseum) the only competition. Offense continues to be the missing element as the A’s scored just four runs in the series with Boston. For the season, they’ve managed just 80 runs at home, which is less than 2.5 on average.

Quite simply, that just won’t do. The A’s are representative 13-13 on the road. So how much do the home performances, have to do with the empty seats, the lack of support, and love?

“We have played well on the road, but this home stand was tough in every way,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “A lot of guys in there are grinding. It’s definitely not for a lack of effort. It’s almost that we’re trying too hard right now. We know the importance of playing well at home. Hopefully when we get back here off this road trip we can change things.”

One of the grinders is Frankie Montas. In his 13th start of the season–and nine removed from his last win–he battled. After a rough first inning in which he allowed three hits and a run to the first three batters, he retired 14 of 15 Red Sox and had the A’s squarely in a competitive game, down 2-1 after five. But no offense came to his rescue, and then the dam broke.

Montas walked leadoff man Rafael Devers, then Kevin Smith botched a throw on a potential double play ball, and two batters later, Franchy Cordero left the yard, leaving Montas in a hole, despite allowing just one earned run. Furthering frustration Cordero’s blast came immediately after a conversation between manager and pitcher that was aimed at holding the fort.

“He just asked me if I wanted it and I said yes,” Montas said. “I just made a mistake. They’re really good hitters and when you make a mistake . . ”

The A’s managed to have seven guys in the lineup produce a hit, but none had more than one, and three extra-base hits had little impact outside Ramon Laureano’s RBI double in the first. By the time Tony Kemp knocked in Christian Bethancourt in the ninth, it was literally time for the fans to depart and the A’s to head to the airport. Too little, too late.

Boston’s rough season got a little less rough with them creeping back to .500 with the three-game sweep. But the reality is they’re fallible and no big league team should get swept by them at home. Or have manager Alex Cora get to say something veiled that basically says the same thing.

“We’ve been playing good baseball the last three weeks, just grinding and using everybody,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We’ve still got holes, but on a daily basis we feel very good about ourselves.”

The good news? Nineteen of the A’s next 25 are on the road, and the reminders left by empty seats and distraught fans won’t follow them onto the various, road diamonds. Hopefully, that’s the tonic they need.

On Tuesday in Atlanta, the A’s open a two-game set against the World Champions with Cole Irvin slated to go against Kyle Wright in the opener. After that, the A’s travel to Cleveland and Boston.

Shut Out On South Beach: Giants can’t solve Alcantara in 3-0 loss to the Marlins

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By Morris Phillips

The Marlins with their sub .500 records overall and at home haven’t moved the meter thus far in 2022, but the Miami pitching has. Pablo Lopez and Sandy Alcantara are the headliners with near-100 mph four-seam fastballs, and Alcantara got his chance to make an impression on the reigning NL West champion Giants on Thursday.

Let’s just say mission accomplished.

The 26-year old right hander was electric, throwing 111 pitches with the best of those coming late, in a 3-0 shutout win over the Giants. Alcantara allowed three hits, walked two, struck out eight and kept the Giants off balance by starting 17 of the 25 batters he faced with strikes, and inducing 24 swings and misses. Knowing they were entering a battle, Giants’ hitters got the majority of Alcantara’s pitches out early with several, lengthy at-bats. But the response was simple: as the game wore on, Alcantara became highly efficient, dispatching Giants’ hitters quickly and quietly.

“If it were up to me, I would have stayed until the ninth, but I respect the manager’s decision,” Alcantara said through an interpreter.

Marlins manager Don Mattingly lifted his ace after seven innings, but rightfully termed the process of Alcantara finishing better than he starts by saying, “he finally got that groove that we talk about where it’s like he’s going 75 mph on the highway.”

So ingrained is the process, Mattingly actually delivered the previous quote after Alcantara’s previous start in Atlanta in which he struck out a career-best 14 in eight innings of work.

The timing of Alcantara’s start couldn’t have been better for the Marlins, who played two games in Denver against the Rockies on Thursday before returning home. The Giants, who got an early start in Philadelphia to conclude their series with the Phillies looked like the far more sluggish team as the hosts got RBI hits from Jacob Stallings (second inning), Jesus Aguilar and Miguel Rojas (both in the sixth) to create breathing room for Alcantara.

The Giants dropped their second straight after a pair of wins in Philadelphia. Their lineup was thin with Brandon Crawford, Evan Longoria dealing with bumps and bruises along with Darin Ruf away on the bereavement list following the death of his father. The Giants are also missing Lamonte Wade Jr., Brandon Belt and Austin Slater, who took batting practice and could make his way into the lineup on Friday night.

The poorly-situationed Alex Wood didn’t pitch poorly for the Giants. Wood worked into the sixth inning, allowing two runs on four hits. Wood has dropped three, consecutive starts and his record is 3-5.

“Any time you face a guy like Sandy, he’s pretty good, so there’s no going to be a whole lot of room for error,” Wood said afterwards.

The announced pitchers for the second game of the series are the Giants’ Alex Cobb and Miami’s Elieser Hernandez.

Sixth Inning of Separation: Giants rally, and get beat in the same inning of a 6-5 loss to the struggling Phillies

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By Morris Phillips

One inning on Wednesday said it all about the Giants’ current situation. They may be the best right now at wiping out deficits late, but it appears their bullpen’s developed a leak.

Nine runs were scored in the sixth inning of the Giants’ 6-5 loss to the Phillies, but four of those–on two, big home runs–belonged to the hosts, who halted a tough string of losses in the process. The Giants saw their rally to go from down 2-0 to up 5-2 wind up as a footnote, as the Phillies quickly put up four of their own to halt a five-game losing streak.

Jarlin Garcia–arguably the most effective setup man in baseball this season (through 17 appearances) finally had a hiccup, allowing his first earned runs and home runs of the season. Nick Maton and Kyle Schwarber both connected with men on base against Garcia with Schwarber’s giving Philadelphia the lead. The cozy dimensions of Citizens Bank Park were in play with Schwarber’s home run, which probably would have been a flyball out at a lot of parks including San Francisco’s. Garcia’s poor outing also took a possible win away from starter Carlos Rodon who pitched the game’s first five innings.

Manager Gabe Kapler tried to make sense of the situation in which two of the team’s best arm talents couldn’t get it done.

“The most important thing we can do is protect our starters,” Kapler said. “Carlos is a guy we have to treat with that level of respect. When he’s super efficient … of course we’re going to give him that opportunity. Today wasn’t that day, and it wasn’t close. … You could point to any number of spots in the game where there were a couple additional pitches. Certainly we weren’t perfect on defense, and that hurt his chances to pitch deeper into the game.”

The Giants rallied in both of the previous games in the series and made it stick with a pair of victories. Their sixth inning rally in this one brought out the boo birds–predictably–but those same fans had to change their tune when three relievers shut down the Giants in the game’s final three innings.

The Phillies had dropped five in a row, and got worse news before the game when versatile infielder Jean Segura was declared out for at least two months with a broken bone in his index finger, and Bryce Harper was ruled out for the game with a forearm issue.

The Giants–experiencing issues of their own in winning ballgames–looked to pounce by sweeping the series, but it all crumbled with Maton and Schwarber’s home runs. Maton just joined the club, after a call-up from Triple A Lehigh Valley.

Aaron Nola pitched the first six innings for the Phillies, allowing all five Giants’ runs on five hits while notching five strikeouts.

“These guys have been grinding,” Phillies’ manager Joe Girardi said. “A lot of guys have played every day in this 16-day run. We get an off day and we get an off day Monday. Hopefully that refreshes our guys. But I think we really needed (a win) bad.”

The Giants open a four-game set in Miami on Thursday against the Phillies.

Home Run Giants: Long ball propels SF past the Phillies, 5-4 in 10 innings

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By Morris Phillips

The part of the Giants’ season where Evan Longoria hits the ball over the fence everyday is starting to gain some appeal.

Longoria’s ninth inning home run gave the Giants the lead for the first time all afternoon and they went on to beat the Phillies 5-4 in 10 innings at Citizens Bank Park on Memorial Day.

Manager Gabe Kapler suspended his National Anthem protest for a day, as the pressing issues for both clubs took center stage.

“While I believe strongly in the right to protest and the importance of doing so, I also believe strongly in honoring and mourning our country’s service men and women who fought and died for that right,” Kapler wrote in a statement issued before the game.

The Phillies came up short in the late innings for the second straight day, ratcheting up the pressure on manager Joe Girardi, who has seen his club drop 11 of their last 15 games. Longoria’s home run off Corey Knebel, then Curt Casali’s two-run homer off Andrew Bellatti in the tenth had the familiar Philly boo birds in full effect.

“Everyone in that room and in this room has gone through tough times in your life and you get to the other side,” Girardi said. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be in this room.”

The Giants’ rough times continued the first two days in Cincinnati, but Longoria’s exploits have the club on a modest two-game win streak after losses in 16 of their previous 27 games.

Longoria started the season on the injured list to recover from a surgically repaired finger. He made his debut on May 11 and went his first 11 appearances without a home run. But he’s homered five times in the last five games, with Giants winning three of the five.

Casali credited his home run to Giants’ starter Logan Webb, who had his very best stuff marred by a trio of home runs, including Kyle Schwarber’s that pushed the game to extras.

“I didn’t care who did it, honestly. You want to win every game, but I wanted to win that game so bad,” said Casali. “Just what (Webb) did and being able to come out for the ninth and have that heartbreak ending to his day. Man, he pitched well today. That’s vintage Logan Webb. He had everything going.”

Webb pitched eight plus allowing four hits and the three, solo homers. What stood out for Webb was his 10 strikeouts, no walks and a bundle of swings and misses.

“I had thrown the first eight,” Webb said. “We were up, and I wanted to win. It sucks I couldn’t finish it.”

Philadelphia’s Ranger Suarez and Jakob Junis are the announced pitchers for Tuesday’s second game of the series.

A’s outlast Texas in mistake -filled contest, win 6-5 and avoid a series sweep

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–The Oakland Coliseum was the Field of Dreams Sunday afternoon, a venue for second chances where Major League teams normally aren’t afforded unlimited numbers.

With both teams gathering and bungling, the winning A’s were actually afforded an 18th opportunity to knock in a runner in scoring position–3 1/2 hours after the first pitch–and they responded with Jed Lowrie’s game-winning single to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Texas Rangers.

“We didn’t cash in on a lot of opportunities but when it counted we did,” Lowrie said of the rollercoaster-like 6-5 win. “At the end of the day, that’s all that matters. Something to work on but we got the win.”

The A’s trailed the first 7 1/2 innings and took the lead, only to let the Rangers tie it without needing a hit. The winning rally was realized with two outs in the ninth, and extra innings–and likely four plus hours of baseball–staring the teams in the face.

“Leaving guys on base early, they just kept going,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “We want that to be our identity. We want teams to know, whether we win or lose, when they leave this place, that this team has fight and grit.”

The Rangers nearly left with four, consecutive wins but were dragged down by a season-worst five errors, the most egregious belonging to Marcus Semien, who failed to make a routine throw to the plate to cut down Ramon Laureano with the lead run in the eighth.

But Semien got his new team back in it in the top of the ninth by drawing a walk, stealing second, and eventually scoring on Dany Jimenez’ wild pitch.

Brett Martin was entrusted with giving Texas a chance to get to extras but he gave up a base hit to Christian Pache, who moved up on Laureano’s ground out, then scored on Lowrie’s base hit. The A’s were 2 for 19 with runners in scoring position before Lowrie ended it, an obvious nod to how many scoring chances they realized and squandered throughout the afternoon.

Rangers starter Dane Dunning escaped a two on, one out, and a bases loaded situation unscathed in the first five innings. The A’s couldn’t corral Dunning’s slower than slow slider, or his change up. Dunning’s other pitches got him into trouble as the starter yielded seven hits, three walks and a hit batsman in four innings plus but departed with a 4-0 lead after trouble surfaced in the fifth.

Sean Murphy got the A’s on the board with a double down the line that scored Lowrie. Dennis Santana, who relieved Dunning, also allowed Elvis Andrus’ RBI double and was on the mound when Andy Ibanez’ fielding error allowed Andrus to score the A’s third run.

Oakland starter James Kaprelian gave up home runs in the first (Corey Seager) and third (Brad Miller) that gave Texas a lead. Kaprelian, like Dunning, couldn’t survive the fifth, departing with four runs allowed on six hits.

The first-place Astros and manager Dusty Baker visit the Coliseum on Memorial Day with Paul Blackburn aiming for a 6-0 start to his season. Blackburn and his 1.70 ERA will be matched with Houston’s Framber Valdez at 1:07pm.

Is This The Road Trip That Propels The Giants?: The Reds, Marlins and Phillies may not be so accommodating

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By Morris Phillips

With the home fans fed up with a leaky bullpen, and voicing that displeasure, the Giants are hitting the road. This could be good: none of the three teams–Reds, Phillies and Marlins–that the Giants are visiting have winning records at home.

Just what the Giants need to break out, and regain their 2021 form? Well, not so fast. Their opponents are all playing better baseball, and the Giants need to lift their game too. They’ve dropped 14 of their last 25 ballgames bringing into question whether they’re positioned to take advantage of a break in their schedule.

The rollercoaster Reds are the best example: after a horrendous 3-22 start to the season, they’ve been pretty good. On Thursday, the Reds wiped out the Cubs 20-5, their 11th win in their last 19 games.

“Splitting the series, especially against the Cubs in your division, gives the guys in the clubhouse some confidence,” said Cincinnati’s Kyle Farmer, who hit two home runs in the blowout. “Our lineup, we hit the ball really well today. We’ve got to keep carrying it on.”

“We haven’t had too many of those, and they don’t come around too often,” Reds manager David Bell said. “For us, those games can carry over.”

Entering Great American Ballpark less than 24 hours after the Reds drop a 20-spot can be intimidating. But thankfully, the Reds are a rebuilding club that scoring fewer than four runs per game on average and have hit just 37 home runs which ranks them in baseball’s bottom third. And no one’s seen this: the last time the Reds scored 20 runs was September 1999 when they were still in old Riverfront Stadium (Cinergy Field).

These Reds have a not-so-youthful core trying to establish themselves, along with veterans Joey Votto (.156 batting average) and Tommy Pham (.233) trying to regain their strokes. Infielder Jonathan India may be their most promising position player, but he’s appeared in only 11 games due to injury.

What the Giants are sure to notice is the Reds’ porous pitching staff which is allowing 5.71 runs per game and has already gifted their opposition with 56 home runs. Given that, the Giants should be well positioned, but there is the issue of the Reds playing better baseball of late.

The Phillies loosely constructed collection of veteran sluggers has held up defensively, but that hasn’t boosted their pitching staff, which is allowing more than four runs a game. Bryce Harper is injured and unable to throw and play defense, but he’s settled into his DH role for the next six weeks until his elbow heals up. J.T. Realmuto is another bright spot who routinely cuts down opponents’ running games. But overall, the Phillies have been in and lost too many high scoring games.

The Marlins look to be better, and they’ve been much more competitive, but at 18-24 few will notice the difference. What stands out is the team’s promising starting pitchers, and the pitching staff’s impressive 3.38 ERA. What ails them is their propensity to lose close ballgames, which explains why they’ve scored more than they’ve given up but have a losing record.

Former Athletic Jesus Luzardo is dealing with a forearm strain so that means a new face could emerge in the final game of the road trip. The Marlins are pondering bringing up their fourth-ranked prospect Edward Cabrera, who struck out 11 in six innings in his most recent minor league start. Prior to that, the Giants will have their hands full with Miami starters Elise Hernandez and Pablo Lopez.

Start Fast, Make It Last: Two innings of fireworks carry the Giants past the Mets, 9-3

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–This Giant lead didn’t precede one of the most confounding, wildest finishes a baseball imagination could conjure up. This giant lead–9-0 Giants after two innings–led seamlessly to a satisfying end to the home stand for a team trying to navigate successfully despite numerous personnel issues.

Mets rookie Thomas Szapucki was the undisputed victim in seeing four of his 49 pitches leave the park, all with 100 mph plus velocities. Evan Longoria was the biggest beneficiary with his first two homers of the season. The Giants survived on Tuesday, winning 12-11 to end a five-game skid. On Wednesday, they built a win streak powered by their early, rapid-fire home runs.

“I knew it was going to take a little bit of time to settle in,” Longoria said. “I was hoping it would happen sooner and quicker, but it’s a long season. I’ve been making some hard contact that hasn’t landed, so just trying to build off those at-bats and keep moving forward.”

Longoria’s three-run blast in the first comfortably cleared the center field wall, and was followed in short order by Joc Pederson’s two-run shot that was his fourth big blast in less than 24 hours.

The second inning went straight to fireworks with Wilmer Flores’ RBI double followed by back-to-back shots by Yastrzemski and Longoria. Longoria’s ended Szapucki’s afternoon, and peculiarly ended the Giants’ offense for the day.

Jakob Junis pitched six innings for the Giants, allowing three hits and single runs in the second and sixth. Junis, thought to be a stop gap has instead been a rock, throwing at least five innings in all six of his starts.

“If he does nothing else, he’s already helped us win several baseball games,” manager Gabe Kapler said of Junis. “I think we envisioned that he would come up and make very important starts for us. So he’s doing what we expected him to do, but he’s done it in a more sustained fashion.”

The Giants played without Brandon Crawford, who got a much-deserved day of rest. They are still without Brandon Belt, LaMonte Wade Jr., Austin Slater, Curt Casali and Steven Duggar making the win and the salvaged home stand that much sweeter.

“It’s huge,” Pederson said. “We built on the momentum from last night. That’s a World Series-caliber team.”

The Giants open a nine-game trip in Cincinnati on Friday night with first pitch 3:40 pm PDT. Carlos Rodon (4-3, 3.43) will pitch in that one while Cincinnati hasn’t yet announced a starter.

Mets Wallop Giants: Losing skid grows to five games in 13-3 loss

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Gabe Kapler chose to remain positive in the face of the Giants’ four-game losing skid and mounting personnel issues.

But then the Giants did little to change the narrative Monday night, falling to the visiting Mets 13-3.

What’s clear? The Giants are further off their desired A game than anyone indicated, and given their difficult schedule a quick turnaround might not be possible. Their immediate goal may not be desirable, but avoiding an 0-6 homestand is foremost right now. That, and staying positive.

Starter Alex Cobb kept it positive, which wasn’t easy after he got burned for six runs and ten hits, some of which were downright frustrating in that they came on softly hit balls that could have easily been outs. Still Cobb departed after six innings trailing 6-2.

“All we really have to focus on is executing pitches, and then the results happen,” Cobb said. “I felt like I was executing some pitches tonight, and the results weren’t quite there.”

Cobb couldn’t quibble over Pete Alonso’s two-out, three-run homer in the third that put the Mets in the driver’s seat up 5-2. But other than that his pitches were fairly effective.

The Giants did strike first when Brandon Crawford homered in the second with Evan Longoria aboard. But they wouldn’t score again until the ninth on Tommy La Stella’s RBI single. In between those two occasions, the Giants went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position spoiling any push for a comeback.

The Giants have been outscored 33-12 in their last four games illustrating how little has gone right. But a deeper disappointment maybe their overall performance against winning clubs. The team has dropped 14 of 21 to teams with winning records.

“There are some challenges right now. We’re not making as many plays as we can,” manager Gabe Kapler said.

On Tuesday, former Athletic Chris Bassitt pitches for the Mets in a match-up with San Francisco ace Logan Webb, seeking his sixth win of the season.

One Run Or Fewer: A’s offense continues to struggle in 4-1 loss at Anaheim

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By Morris Phillips

Look at the A’s schedule: they haven’t seen much AL West competition thus far, and with those teams that know them best up now, the obvious conclusion is that things could get worse.

Things got worse this weekend in Anaheim. For that, the A’s can point to Patrick Sandoval and Shohei Ohtani. We’ll call them the usual suspects.

Ohtani homered–as did Mike Trout–and the Angels cruised to a 4-1 win over the A’s as Sandoval deftly managed his effective offerings to reach the eighth inning. If the score and result looks familiar, it’s because it is. Last Sunday in Oakland, Sandoval cruised, and Ohtani homered in the first inning in the A’s 4-1 loss. This first round of AL West rival action clearly goes to Anaheim, winners of five of the first seven of 19 contests between the clubs.

The toothless A’s have dropped 20 of 29 after an encouraging 8-6 start to the season. And Sunday marked the 16th time the team has scored one run or fewer (1-15 in those games). Against Sandoval, the A’s managed three singles and Kevin Smith’s eighth inning double. Christian Pache, mired in a 1 for 23 stretch, knocked in Smith for the A’s only run.

“For my money, when he has fastball command, he should normally be pitching in the seventh, eighth, ninth inning,” manager Joe Maddon said of Sandoval. “The way his stuff is, they don’t get good swings at it. Don’t get good looks at it.”

Sandoval’s brilliance allowed the Angels’ bats to be patient with A’s starter Cole Irvin, who was returning from a stint on the injured list. The Angels got single runs in the first, second and fifth against Irvin. Trout homered off Justin Grimm in the seventh, a laser inside the left field foul pole.

The A’s are 2-5 in a stretch of games against divisional opponents that continues through June 1. Seattle is next, then Texas and Houston. The A’s will have to pick up their offense to compete. But their gutty starters have faltered as of late too. Irvin’s loss on Sunday drops the Oakland starters to 0-6 over the last 10 games.

But the issues don’t stop there: seven A’s errors over the last nine games have the defense showing wear. Thirty errors in 43 games ranks the team near the bottom of the American League.

On Monday, the A’s open a three-game set against the Mariners in Seattle with Zach Logue facing Marco Gonzales.

Giants Good Again in 2022, Just Not In the Manner They Were Good in 2021

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by Morris Phillips

Expanded playoffs, universal designated hitters, shrinking batting averages and greater reliance on relief pitchers. Seemingly, all of baseball’s newest machinations favor the Giants and their preferred methods of competing.

Currently the Giants are bundled with three other NL clubs (Dodgers, Mets, Brewers) at the top of the standings in the first season in which six teams will qualify for postseason play in both leagues. No more roll of the dice in a Wild Card game means no one goes home after an initial, bad playoff game. When you’ve got a great shot to be in, it’s even better if you can’t all of a sudden be out.

Throughout baseball, batting averages are down, as is scoring. Trying to buck that trend are the Giants with their .248 team batting average, well above the .235 number that this season is considered average among the 30 teams. The Giants also are averaging 5.11 runs per game, which trails only the Dodgers. But those key metrics don’t mean that individual sluggers on the team haven’t had their struggles. Benefitting the Giants of course, is their philosophy to seek game-altering extra-base hits and homers at the expense of on-base percentage and playing the old-school, station-to-station game.

Given that, the Giants still draw their walks (ranking second with 144 free passes), utilize the sacrifice fly (they rank first with 20), and steal bases consistently, if not frequently with 21 steals and only six caught stealing situations. Those numbers weigh heavier given that the Giants aren’t a record-breaking, home run-hitting club this season with only 40 hit so far.

What they do is hit more than their opponent by a nice margin augmented by their league-low 26 home runs allowed. And when those home runs are hit, it’s usually in a close, low-scoring game. That combination, as it was in 2021, is a real weapon for the Giants: they win close games.

A major piece of that formula is the team’s bullpen which is currently loaded with standouts from closer Camilo Doval with seven saves to Taylor Rogers, John Brebbia and Jarlin Garcia as the key, setup options. With so many returners from last season in the team’s bullpen, comparisons are easy. And so far, this year’s group’s been that much better than last’s.

The Giants have won 8 of 11 leading into Friday night’s meeting with the Padres. In the coming weeks the Giants will see the Padres, Mets and the Dodgers, teams they need to measure themselves against in preparation for a possible, postseason appearance.

On Friday, Jakob Junis gets the starting nod in a matchup with San Diego’s Sean Manaea.