Troy Glaus has put a different spin on what has been an up-and-down road trip for the Toronto Blue Jays.

While his five-game hitting streak hasn't pushed the team into the race for the American League wild card or East division pennant, Glaus has given general manager J.P. Ricciardi food for thought with the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approaching.

Blue Jays' Troy Glaus cleared the fence twice at Yankee Stadium Monday, the 25th multi-homer game of his career.
(Kathy Willens/Associated Press)

Last week in Boston, Ricciardi told reporters that he likes his team and he intends to stick with it, through this season and beyond.

But Glaus, despite playing most of the season with a sore left heel, might be able to fetch some young players or prospects from the two Los Angeles-based teams — the Angels and Dodgers — who have been linked by reports to the Jays' slugging third baseman.

A .296 hitter this season, Glaus will try to help Toronto even its record at 3-3 on the current road swing Tuesday night against a New York Yankees club that has won nine of its last 12 contests.

In Monday's 6-4 setback, Glaus connected for a two-run homer in the third inning to tie the game 2-2 and added a solo shot in the fifth for the 25th multi-homer game of his career.

Glaus came within a few feet of a third dinger in the ninth inning but settled for his first triple since April 2005 and finished 3-for-4 on the night with three runs batted in.

Runners left on base

But his teammates didn't follow suit as Toronto stranded 12 runners in all, including five in the first two innings.

Glaus, who entered the four-game series as a .213 career hitter at Yankee Stadium, will carry a lifetime .323 mark against left-hander Andy Pettitte into Tuesday's matchup.

The Blue Jays will counter with ace Roy Halladay, who has nine wins in 23 career appearances against New York.

The 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner has posted a 6-1 mark and 1.91 earned-run average in the past nine encounters, but hasn't pitched well of late.

Halladay, 30, sports an uncharacteristic 6.85 ERA over his last four starts and allowed five runs in five innings to the AL East-leading Red Sox on Thursday.

"I definitely feel like it's been a little bit harder for me to get consistent, which in the past has been a little easier," Halladay told the Blue Jays' official website. "I've had these points over my career."

Fortunately for Halladay (10-4), Toronto boasts a 17-10 record versus lefties this season.

Yankees trail in season series

"This club has not been easy for us, there's no question," New York manager Joe Torre said of the Jays, who hold a 3-2 edge in the season series. "And Halladay's pitching, so this game is very important for us."

The Yankees trail Boston by nine games and are seven games back of Cleveland in the wild-card race.

Pettitte (5-6) snapped a four-game winless skid Thursday at Tampa Bay and is 98-41 after the all-star break with a 3.51 ERA in 176 games (174 starts) since his rookie season of 1995.

Perhaps Blue Jays manager John Gibbons will shake things up with his batting order and move Vernon Wells back to the leadoff position in favour of Reed Johnson.

Wells hit .301 with seven homers in 16 games in the leadoff spot while Johnson recovered from back surgery earlier this season.

Second baseman Aaron Hill extended his hitting streak to six games Monday with a run-scoring double, while first baseman Lyle Overbay has hit safely in five straight starts.

Toronto will send Shaun Marcum to the mound Wednesday against former Blue Jay Roger Clemens. Game time is 7:05 p.m. ET.