NEW YORK _ The Mets just needed to come back home for their offense to wake up.
After an underwhelming showing in two hitter-friendly parks, the Mets pummeled the Blue Jays, 12-2, on Tuesday night at Citi Field to start this eight-game homestand.
The Mets (21-20) scored just eight runs in the final four games of their last road trip, but had no problems against their personal punching bag, Jaime Garcia.
Noah Syndergaard (3-1) tossed five innings of two-run ball after an 86-minute rain delay, and the Mets improved to 12-0 in New York against the Blue Jays.
The Mets have been one of the worst teams in baseball since their hot start, and the offense is the main reason for those struggles. They ranked 28th in runs scored entering this brief two-game interleague set, ahead of only the lowly Marlins.
Before the game, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson pointed to the offense as a unit that needs to rebound if the Mets are going to rebound.
"We've got to score more runs," Alderson said. "Not scoring runs puts pressure on everybody. Pressure on the defense, the pitching, pressure on the entire game. We're still very confident in this team. A lot of people like to point to where we've been over the last two to three weeks, we haven't played particularly well but we're right there."
The Mets started slow Tuesday before pounding Garcia like they often do. Garcia is now 0-6 with a 5.92 ERA in seven starts against the Mets dating to the 2015 season.
Trailing 2-1 in the fourth inning, the Mets rallied for five runs. Syndergaard's sacrifice fly tied the game, and Amed Rosario followed with an RBI double off the top of the wall to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. Juan Lagares added a two-run single later in the inning.
In the sixth, Rosario, Lagares and Brandon Nimmo added run-scoring hits to turn the game into a laugher as the Mets claimed a 9-2 lead.
Lagares paced the Mets with four hits and three RBIs, and Rosario produced perhaps his best offensive game of the year with three well-struck hits.
Devin Mesoraco also reached base five times and added a two-run homer in the eighth.
While the Mets are hoping this night will provide momentum, this team has not done a good job recently of building off potential rallying moments.
After scoring seven runs in the series-opening win over the Reds last Monday, they scored just three runs in the next two games.
Following Michael Conforto's dramatic two-run homer in last Friday's win over the Phillies, they plated just a pair in Sunday's series finale.
The Mets may also be without Yoenis Cespedes, with the team expected to make a decision soon on whether to place the slugger on the disabled list with a mild strain of his right hip flexor. Signs point toward him being sidelined soon.
Syndergaard contributed to the effort by driving in two runs, and the righty had to battle to complete his five innings. The Blue Jays put together quality at-bats while forcing him to throw plenty of pitches in the second and third innings.
He stranded a pair in the second inning before allowing a two-run single to Yangervis Solarte that put the Mets in a 2-1 hole in the third.
Syndergaard's night ended after he induced an inning-ending double-play grounder from Teoscar Hernandez with two on and one out in the fifth in a 6-2 game.
The Mets' ace struck out seven batters while walking two, and yielded five hits.
Tuesday marked Syndergaard's first start since pitching coach Dave Eiland said that the pitcher had not accomplished "a whole lot" in his career. Eiland told The Record on Tuesday that he was simply referring to Syndergaard's lack of experience.
