Starlin shakes off missed opportunity to notch clutch hit

CHICAGO -- After Starlin Castro struck out to leave two runners on base in the fourth inning on Wednesday, Jake Arrieta approached the shortstop in the dugout to tell him not to worry about it.

"He was upset with himself, and it was sincere," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Castro. "He came through at the appropriate moment."

Castro ended the Cubs' stretch of 17 scoreless innings when he delivered a go-ahead RBI single with one out in the seventh to lift Chicago to a 2-0 victory over the Cardinals.

Video: STL@CHC: Castro leaps to take a hit away from Molina

Castro had followed Arrieta's lead. Arrieta's message to Castro was: "I got your back." When Arrieta exited after the seventh, Castro went up to him.

"I told him the same thing, 'We got your back now, we got your back,'" Castro said, "and we scored two runs that inning and won the game."

Arrieta was impressed by the shortstop's honesty and maturity.

"Those kind of things might not have happened last year," Arrieta said.

Castro was not happy with himself after the Cardinals' Lance Lynn struck him out in the fourth.

"I got mad because I wanted to get that run," Castro said. "We haven't been good with runners in scoring position. I still have my confidence and got the job done."