CHICAGO –The Cubs’ resident “cut and slash” hitter appears to be emerging from his own private horror flick.

Starlin Castro, who entered the current series batting .186 with a .289 slugging percentage since a four-hit game June 23 at Arizona, appears to have snapped out of things against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Castro had three hits Friday and delivered a double in the first inning Saturday all while looking locked in at the plate. Prone to the occasional dry spell, Castro also has a way of breaking out of slumps with a vengeance.

“I think guys like that with that hand-eye coordination they have, you will see them swing out of the zone sometimes and have some bad at-bats but then they have the ability to put the bat on the ball when it is in the strike zone,” manager Dale Sveum said. “Those guys are what we call cut and slashers. They’re going to swing. They will have their good games and they will have their tough games until they learn on a consistent basis to be able to lay off and get good pitches to hit consistently.”

The first sign that Castro was feeling better at the plate came in the first inning Friday, even before he had delivered a hit. He worked an eight-pitch at-bat against Cardinals starter Lance Lynn before eventually delivering an RBI single.

Castro finished Friday 3-for-4 with a triple and then went off the wall for his double in his first at-bat Saturday.

“He had some good at-bats,” Sveum said about Castro’s play Friday. “That was a great at-bat that first inning. He fouled off some tough pitches and then got a good pitch and lined it up the middle. That was nice and hopefully that continues.”

Five times in June, Castro had three or more hits in a game. His only one in July came Friday.