The Houston Astros have optioned Ken Giles to Triple-A after he appeared to curse at A.J. Hinch when the manager lifted him from the game.

The Astros insist the move was about baseball and not the right-hander's behavior.

"We need to get his pitching right," Hinch said. "He's had an up-and-down season. He's had signs that things are good. He's had some bad games. He's had some meltdowns. But we need to get him right. He's not right and we've got to get him right mentally and physically to make sure he's a good contributor to a pen."

Houston was up by four to start the ninth inning against the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night when Giles took over and gave up three straight singles, which cut the lead to 4-1.

Hinch came to the mound to take out Giles and the broadcast caught him appearing to curse at Hinch right after he walked by him on his way off the field.

"It's important for him to get himself right, where he's directing all of his attention toward the hitter and all of his attention toward his job," Hinch said. "He pitches with a lot of emotion, and when things are going well we love it. When things aren't going well we have our concerns, just because of the volatility of the end-of-the-game type stuff."