1. Zuperb Zebby: Right-hander Zebby Matthews had another strong outing in his second start of the spring, allowing two hits and striking out five over three scoreless innings. Matthews’ four-seam fastball maxed at 97.5. mph and clocked an average of 95.8, nearly 1.0 mph quicker than in 2024. His four-seam spin was up 117 rpm, 5.0 percent over ’24.

He also got five whiffs on six swings using nine sliders. The O’s put five balls in play, with the only hard hit coming on a 110.6 mph single by Daz Cameron. Nothing else came off the bat faster than a 93.7 mph grounder by Gary Sánchez.

Perhaps the most encouraging development: The only ball the O’s hit in the air against Matthews came on a short bloop single by Jackson Holliday.

2. Tonkin should get to tinkerin’: Replacing Matthews in the fourth, right-hander Michael Tonkin did not fool the O’s, giving up lots of hard contact. He allowed a run, two hits and a walk over 2/3 of an inning before he was replaced. It might have seemed like a short leash by manager Rocco Baldelli, but Tonkin threw 29 pitches with only 16 strikes before the Twins decided they had seen enough.

The club kept Tonkin on the 40-man roster this offseason, and Tonkin projects by some to make the Opening Day roster, but he has a 13.50 ERA over three Grapefruit appearances.

3. Castellano ain’t celebrating this Holliday: Ahead by five runs in the fifth inning, Rule 5 right-hander Eiberson Castellano threw a pitch the backstop for ball four and allowed a two-run home run to Holliday.

It was a no-doubter, traveling 106.9 mph off the bat and going an estimated 378 feet. It would have been a home run in every park, Statcast said, except for Fenway Park.

4. 2B or not to be: Edouard Julien, starting at first base but really competing for the second base job or DH, went 2-for-2 with a run scored. That’s the good news.

The bad news: neither of his hits were harder than 78 mph.

Brooks Lee, also competing for second base, also had two hits. One went 93.1 mph (almost a hard-hit ball), and the other went 50 mph and a total of four feet.

5. Larnach angle: The big hit for the Twins was a two-run home run by Trevor Larnach against right-hander Albert Suarez. Struck 103.6 mph off the bat, it went 395 feet estimated, Larnach drove in three runs.

6. Keirsey? Mercy!: DaShawn Keirsey Jr. filled up the box score without getting an official at-bat. He came off the bench and scored three runs by walking twice, getting hit by a pitch, and stealing a base after coming around as a pinch-runner.

He is batting .500/.727/1.000 in five games/11 plate appearances.

7. Cut it loose: Right-hander Alex Speas threw 11 pitches in a scoreless eighth inning — all cutters that were between 90-95.5 mph. He walked one and didn’t strike anyone out, and he allowed a pair of hard hits, including a 328-foot flyout. He also got a double play.

Including his previous outing against the Yankees, Speas has thrown 16 cutters out of 19 pitches total.

He might be working on his cutter.

8. Crazy eight in the ninth: The Twins led 10-5 with two outs to go and allowed eight runs. Double-A reliever John Stankiewicz had an inning to forget by allowing six runs, five hits and a walk. Low-A left-hander Gabriel Yanez allowed two insurance runs.

It matters to those guys but the results of two minor-league middle relievers won’t impact the Twins season one iota.