Giles vows to bounce back after 9th goes south

HOUSTON — Astros closer Ken Giles took full responsibility for his team’s ninth-inning meltdown Tuesday night, though he wasn’t the only culprit. An unfortunate bounce through the legs of catcher Jason Castro for a wild pitch and some timely two-out hitting by the Rangers in the ninth helped to send the Astros their sixth loss in seven games, 3-2, at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros’ slump couldn’t be coming at a worse time, considering they’re 4 1/2 games out in the American League Wild Card race with only 17 games remaining. To make matter worse, they’re chasing four teams in the standings.

If they miss the playoffs by a hair, they’ll bemoan the ninth inning Tuesday.

“Just things didn’t go our way, go my way,” Giles said. “It was my responsibility to shut the guys down and I didn’t do my job today. I take full responsibility for that. I didn’t make the pitches when I needed to. I’m going to take the good from the bad and just bounce back for the guys next time.”

Giles, who had converted nine saves in a row, entered the game in the ninth with a 2-1 lead and got Adrian Beltre to bounce out to shortstop. …

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