Drew does not regret missed triple

By Anthony Fenech / MLB.com | 07/17/11

PHOENIX -- Stephen Drew would do it again.

"That's how I play," Drew said about unsuccessfully trying to stretch a double into a triple on Saturday night. "It was just unfortunate that the ball bounced right to [Andre Ethier]."

Leading off the third inning, Drew laced a pitch to right-center off Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda. When he was halfway between first and second, the ball bounced off the padding and directly to right fielder Ethier.

"I saw him running sideways, so my initial read was that if he's running sideways, I've got a good chance to get to third," Drew said. "I had no clue where the ball was at."

By the time Drew rounded second, Ethier had the ball, and he relayed it to Rafael Furcal, who threw a strike to Juan Uribe at third to beat Drew by a few steps for the first out of the inning.

"I think if you saw [third-base coach] Matty [Williams], he was telling him to hold up," manager Kirk Gibson said. "We hope the guys have better judgment on plays like that, but I'd rather continue to hold reins on the guys than whip them."

Drew has five triples on the season, tied for seventh in the National League.

"Off the bat, it looked like a triple," Drew said. "My initial thought was to keep running, because I thought [Ethier] was still running, and that's a chance I'm going to take.

"If I had to do it again, I would do it again."