LOS ANGELES – Once Zack Greinke got two quick strikes on Austin Barnes, the outcome seemed almost predetermined – or, at least, it practically would have been the previous two seasons for the Diamondbacks’ ace. Greinke would feed Barnes a slider or a perhaps change-up, he would get a swinging strike or induce soft contact, and he would move on to the next batter, one-third of an inning closer to the finish line.
But that is not how things played out for Greinke in that second-inning at-bat on Thursday. And as Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo looked on from the visitors’ dugout at Dodger Stadium, he saw it as an early sign that things might not go according to script on Opening Day.