ATLANTA — On the mound at Truist Park on Friday, Charlie Morton looked at home.

This is the team that drafted him as an 18-year-old in 2002, then called him up for his MLB debut six years later. He would be traded, sent to the Pirates, then spend time with the Astros and Rays before returning to Atlanta in 2021.

For the next four seasons, he started for the team that gave him his chance, pitching over 163 innings each year. As Morton contemplated retirement, the Braves moved on and Morton decided to give it a go for at least one more year, coming to Baltimore.

As he returned to Atlanta for the first time this season, and potentially his last time as a player, he reminded everyone that while he may be 41 years old, he can still perform. He allowed just two runs in 5 1/3 innings and struck out seven as the Orioles won the first game in a three-game series, 3-2.

When thinking about the Braves, Morton starts with Atlanta’s run of excellence under manager Bobby Cox, highlighted by a rotation that featured three future Hall of Famers in Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.

“It’s a special place for me,” he said. “It just is. I grew up paying attention to the pitchers in the ‘90s and the team in the ‘90s, and then getting drafted and, obviously, I’m going through the system and playing in all the small towns that we played in. And then getting to come back here, I think Atlanta and the Braves organization will always be a special place, a special team for me.”

Since pitching to a 10.89 ERA in his first five starts of the season, Morton has become one of the Orioles’ most valuable pitchers, especially with Zach Eflin on the injured list and Tomoyuki Sugano allowing a career-high number of hits in back-to-back starts.

For the first five innings Friday, every time a runner got on base he limited any damage. In the first, after Austin Riley singled with two outs, he got Jurickson Profar swinging on a curveball. An inning later, after issuing a leadoff walk to Marcell Ozuna and hitting Drake Baldwin with a pitch, he quickly got three outs, ending the second on a three-pitch strikeout.

This continued until the sixth when, for the first time, Morton wasn’t able to escape. Profar opened the inning with a single, then Baldwin hit a two-run homer to end Morton’s homecoming.

Morton’s velocity was up — he hit 97 mph, his second-fastest pitch of the season — while his curveball, his most-used pitch on Friday, was especially effective.

“He’s been really good here for a while,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “So you know, I wish we could take away the first month of the season from him, but he’s been able to fight out of it and really kind of carry us on the mound here for a while.”

Atlanta’s two runs weren’t an issue thanks to some early power from the Orioles against Braves starter Spencer Strider, who has the potential to one day be one of the strongest starters in the league.

Jordan Westburg, back in the lineup after missing a week with a sprained left index finger, homered in his second at-bat.

Westburg probably isn’t 100%, a fact that he and Mansolino both admitted. He likely hasn’t been all season, thanks to a series of ailments limiting his time, from back issues to a left hamstring strain to a sprained left index finger.

He showed how crucial he is to this lineup as he hit a home run to right field in the third. He had two more hits, singles in the first and fifth inning. Cedric Mullins also added a home run in the fifth — a two-run shot that he sent into the second-deck Chop House — and Tyler O’Neill had a hit and a walk in his first game back from the injured list.

“I think the key to facing an ace is kind of giving them credit and not getting too arrogant and cocky, but also knowing that we’re in the big leagues for a reason,” Westburg said. “As long as each individual’s focused on their plan and trying to pass the bat back one at a time, I feel like that’s kind of when things start to happen. He pitched well, he only gave up three runs, but it was enough for us to get a win.”