Ken Giles is No Matt Schaub or Brad Lidge — That’s Crazy Talk: Stand Up Guy/Self Destructing Closer Isn’t Important Enough to Live in Houston Sports Infamy

Call Ken Giles The Next Matt Schaub if you must. Or Brock Osweiler 2.0 if you insist. Or even The Next Generation Brad Lidge. If it makes you feel any better, do all that and more — curse a guy who’s clearly completely torn up about not being able to do his job.

The Houston Astros are not going to do it. The World Series is not supposed to be easy. And truth be told, the Astros never came close to having control of Game 4 before Giles imploded in the ninth inning. Giles’ fingerprints may be all over this 6-2 series-evening loss, but they’re not close to the only ones.

“I love that guy,” Astros center fielder George Springer says of Giles. “I love all those guys (in the bullpen). This game is hard. They’re not going out there trying to fail. I hope Skip hands him the ball tomorrow too.”

As hard as it may be to imagine Astros manager A.J. Hinch giving Giles the ball again with Sunday night’s Game 5 on the line, this ultra-compelling, rollercoaster World Series is not going to come down to the Astros regular season closer anyway. It’s going to hinge on Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander. And whether the Astros can hit Clayton Kershaw, the best pitcher in baseball, at all in the last game Minute Maid Park will see this season.

Giles is the easy sacrificial lamb for Game 4, but the closer’s self destruction obscures the fact that the best offense in baseball only manages two hits. Springer and Alex Bregman’s solo home runs are it. Giles does not blow a lead. Houston does not have one late to squander. The Astros are not taking home a championship like this.

In the quiet Astros aftermath of a lost Saturday night at Minute Maid, Giles faces a mammoth crowd of reporters and does not try to deflect any of the blame.

“They’re all crappy pitches,” Giles says of his nightmarish night — three batters faced, none retired, a 1-1 tie turned into a five-run deficit by the end of the inning. “Not where I want them.”

Giles will talk about needing “to pick up this team” when it needs him most. About “pulling his weight.” He’ll insist that he knows his manager remains a believer. “I know A.J. has confidence in me,” Giles says. “I’m going to pick up this team.”

The Astros don’t go out of their way to speak to the 27-year-old from New Mexico who first emerged as a dominant closer on a Phillies team going absolutely no where. There is nothing to say. Nothing to say that will help — or make Giles feel even an ounce better. Besides, the trust and love in the Astros’ clubhouse has been built long before near Halloween’s eve.

“No, they didn’t talk to me,” Giles says. “They don’t need to speak to me. Me and A.J. communicate a lot. He tells me every day that he’s going to go to me.”

The truth is the Astros very well could need to address their closer situation in the offseason. But there’s not a ton anyone can do about it now. Yes, Brad Peacock, Chris Devenski and Collin McHugh will all probably close before Giles the rest of this series (not to mention, likely Verlander and Keuchel too on the days they start — and maybe in a Game 7 too), but Hinch may still need to turn to Giles for an important out or inning. There are limitations to going elsewhere at this point.

“Even if it’s only for one out, I’ll be ready,” Giles vows.

It’s hard not to feel for this guy unless you’ve been completely jaded, disillusioned and beaten down by the fact Houston hasn’t won a title in one of America’s three major pro sports (football, baseball and basketball) since 1995 (sorry Dynamo). These Astros are trying to end their own franchise’s 55-year title drought and win their first.

There’s no doubt Game 4 is a blow in that pursuit. But Giles’ stumble is not the push that will send this 101-win team toppling over. Houston never had Game 4. The Astros’ fate will be determined by how Jose Altuve (a uncharacteristic 1 for 9 in the last two games) and Carlos Correa respond. And if Springer can keep his World Series mashing going.

“We’ve got to come out (Sunday) and play,” Springer says. “This one is over.”

The Springer Dinger False Hope

When Springer sends a home run rocketing to the Halliburton sign above the Crawford Boxes in left, to break up Dodgers starter Alex Wood’s no-hitter in the sixth, this one seems like the one for the moment. Minute Maid erupts into a mad frenzy of unleashed pent-up emotion and joy. It is as loud as it’s been all postseason — and there’s not a butt on a seat in the stands.

A championship seems closer than ever. But it’s just 1-0.

And the Dodgers yank it back. There are two great teams playing in this series — and that shouldn’t be forgotten in all the moaning over Giles. There’s LA rookie Cody Bellinger rediscovering his stroke with two series-shifting doubles, rebounding from a 0 for 4, four strikeout Golden Sombrero game much like Springer did before him in this World Series.

This Dodgers team is just as talented as the Astros (and deeper in pitching). This is a few more twists and turns from becoming one of the most epic World Series of all time. That’s something worth appreciating — even as you’re biting off your nails.

“Every game feels like a Game 5 or a Game 7, a critical game,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch says.

The Astros jolted Los Angeles with that Game 2 comeback for the ages. Now, the Dodgers have the chance to shake Houston to its core by taking two of three at Minute Maid and grabbing a stranglehold over the World Series. They have Kershaw to try and ensure it happens on the most important Sunday night baseball game of the season.

These Astros have surprised us so many times before, pulling themselves off the mat when few expect it, much like the city they call home. “We’ve seen Kershaw already now,” Astros catcher Brian McCann says.

Houston may have a better read on the highest paid player in baseball, a Highland Park product who yearns to break this Texas team’s heart. But the Dodgers are clearly feeling it. Joc Pederson — the all-or-nothing Dodgers slugger who looks like he just fell off a frat’s couch — even breaks out Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins, “You Like That?! You Like That?!” celebration after slamming a three-run home run off Joe Musgrove in that Astros disaster of a ninth inning.

This is no longer about Ken Giles. Boo him off the mound all you want. The disappointment’s ringing in his own ears long before that anyway. Compare his eight-pitch stint in this World Series game to Matt Schaub throwing all those Pick-6s for the Texans if it makes you feel better. Or smugger.

But the truth is Giles is no Schaub, no Osweiler and no Lidge. He’s not even Jacoby Jones inexplicably muffing that point in that playoff game in Baltimore. Giles didn’t blow the Astros’ chance. He’s not close to an all-time Houston sports goat. He’s not that important. He will not decide this World Series one way or the other for the Astros.

No one blew the World Series for the Astros on a lost Saturday night in downtown Houston. The Astros never grabbed it in the first place.