Millwood goes 5 innings in intrasquad game

Kevin Millwood threw 88 pitches (56 strikes) in his five innings of work against minor league hitters in today's intrasquad game. He struck out seven, walked two and gave up three runs in his final inning of work, but looked much sharper than in his two exhibition outings.

"I liked what I saw,'' said pitching coach Rick Kranitz, who stayed behind to watch Millwood and Jim Johnson before rushing to Fort Myers for the Grapefruit League game against the Twins. "Every time he goes out there, he closes the gap to where he needs to be. He got a lot out of today. We're starting to see some consistency in his release point and good life on his pitches. It's coming around."

Millwood's fastball was clocked at about 88 miles per hour and was up in the zone some with it. He was very sharp with his curveball, in one at-bat throwing it four times in a row to strike out Tyler Henson.

Johnson needed just 10 pitches to get through his first of two innings, but gave up a two-run home run to Brandon Waring the second time he took the mound.

Highly regarded left-handed prospect Zach Britton pitched two scoreless innings, but struggled with his command.