LOS ANGELES -- The Mets got homers from Curtis Granderson and Kevin Plawecki as they jumped on Dodgers lefty Scott Kazmir early and often to pull out a series-opening 4-2 victory and give Steven Matz his fifth straight win.
Granderson started off the scoring by sending the game's first pitch into the right-field bleachers. It didn't get much better for Kazmir from there, as he ended up allowing runs in four out of his six innings pitched. He was pulled after a two-out rally in the sixth, which was capped off by an RBI double from Matz.
"It's definitely not written up the way I wanted, that's for sure," Kazmir said. "I feel like I'm really close to getting where I want to be. I don't want to look too far in the past of what happened. That's in the past. I'm confident out there. I know what I'm doing. It's just a matter of executing."
Matz held the Dodgers to two earned runs while striking out five in six innings to continue his stellar run. The lefty allowed seven runs in his first start of the season, but has allowed two earned runs or fewer and lasted at least six innings in every start since. The 24-year-old is 9-1 to begin his big league career.
"I'm pretty happy with how I threw the ball today," Matz said. "It's about not thinking ahead, but just being in the moment."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Starting with a bang: Granderson's leadoff shot was his 37th career home run to open a game, matching Ichiro Suzuki for second-most among active players. (Jimmy Rollins is the active leader with 46). With 13 leadoff homers since joining the Mets in 2014, Granderson also ranks second in franchise history behind Jose Reyes (16).

Thompson's tater: The Dodgers got their only runs of the night when Trayce Thompson went deep off Matz down the right-field line. The long ball continued an encouraging trend for Thompson, who entered the game hitting .310/.333/.586 against left-handers.
"I'm always looking for fastballs, especially with these guys," Thompson said. "All their guys have phenomenal stuff and could be the ace of the staff. Just trying to keep it simple with them, not try to do much." More >

Steven Batz: When Matz doubled to left field to chase Kazmir in the sixth, he extended the Mets' streak to three consecutive games in which their starting pitcher had an extra-base hit. Bartolo Colon famously started that run with his first career homer Saturday in San Diego, and Matt Harvey tacked on a double one day later. Matz has six RBIs in 12 career starts.
"I think we all take pride in it," Matz said of the Mets' pitchers' hitting ability. "We enjoy it. We enjoy working on it. After a few ugly swings I had earlier, I was happy to get that one." More >

Hernandez helps out Kazmir: The third inning could have been much worse for Kazmir had it not been for the arm of left fielder Kiké Hernandez. A leadoff single from Granderson was wiped out after Hernandez threw him out trying to take an extra bag. The inning was later ended when Hernandez caught a fly ball then doubled up Yoenis Cespedes at second base.

QUOTABLE
"I had the mirrors taken out of his hotel room." -- Mets manager Terry Collins, on second baseman Wilmer Flores, who suffered a cut and multiple bruises when his helmet flew off on a stolen base in the fourth  More >

"I thought he was good. The stuff was really good. It just seems that every mistake he makes seems to go out of the ballpark." -- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, on Kazmir
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
With 11 saves in 11 chances, Mets closer Jeurys Familia is on pace to log 57 of them. Familia tied the Mets' franchise record with 43 saves last season. He has pitched in 16 of the Mets' first 31 games, including a perfect ninth inning on Monday night at Dodger Stadium.

AFTER FURTHER REVIEW
It looked like Hernandez had earned a leadoff infield single in the first by sliding into the base, but a challenge from the Mets showed that third baseman David Wright's throw had arrived before Hernandez reached the bag. The play was close because Hernandez's grounder bounced off Matz's foot before Wright corralled the ball on a ricochet.

WHAT'S NEXT
Mets:Jacob deGrom will face the Dodgers on Tuesday night for the first time since gutting out six innings in a National League Division Series Game 5 win. More pertinently, deGrom will be looking to rebound from his first loss of the season, taken on Thursday in San Diego.
Dodgers:Alex Wood will take the mound against deGrom, hoping to continue a run of good fortune at Dodger Stadium, as his two quality starts of the season have come at home. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. PT.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.