Zack Greinke on his location, his slider, Ozzy Osbourne & The Alamo

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Zack Greinke pitched three innings on Monday in the Dodgers' 10-5 victory over the Athletics at Camelback Ranch, gradually getting ready for the start of the regular season.

"It went pretty good, not great," Greinke said. "I was better than last start. Last start I didn't do much messing around with different pitches, but today I tried to mix it up better. My location was a little better today with the fastball."

Greinke allowed a run in three innings, the only hit allowed a home run off the bat of Josh Phegley to lead off the third inning. Greinke struck out two and walked one. After not seeing the results from a new slider grip earlier this spring, Greinke on Monday went back to his old grip, returning some sense of familiarity, and control, and adding another weapon to his pitching arsenal.

"It still wasn't anything special, but at least I semi-know where I'm throwing it, and I kind of know if it's going to move or not," Greinke said. "With the other one, I didn't know for sure whether or not it would move."

Most importantly for Greinke, who started his spring with a lubricating injection in his elbow that delayed his start of camp, the right-hander is healthy and said he feels like is where he should be at this point in the spring.

"He wants to get his work in, get better as spring goes on. He worries a little bit more if he's not feeling right," Mattingly said. "He was good for me."

Up next for Greinke is a start in San Antonio in an exhibition at The Alamodome against the Rangers, which means two things.

First, he gets to hit.

"Hopefully it's a soft-tossing lefty," Greinke joked.

Second, Greinke gets to break up the monotony of camp and hopefully improve in his San Antonio memories.

"I kind of like to get away from spring training for a little bit," Greinke said. "I haven't been to San Antonio for a while so I thought that would be good, because the last time I went I didn't have a car so I was stuck at the hotel for the most part."

What about The Alamo?

"I remember a little bit," Greinke recalled. "I remember them saying Ozzy Osbourne peed on it. Hopefully that's true."

Up next

The Dodgers head to Surprise on Tuesday to battle the Rangers, with Hyun-jin Ryu making his second Cactus League start. Yovani Gallardo gets the call for Texas.