Even at his lowest moments, when Charlie Morton pondered why his performances were so strikingly poor, the Orioles right-hander never wavered in the belief he could still do this.

He has done this for most of his life, after all, and he wasn’t ready to admit time had come for him at last. Not when his fastball still had life and his curveball still spun as well as it did. At 41, Morton has played professional baseball for more years (23) than not. He was 18 when the Atlanta Braves selected him in the third round of the 2002 draft, and the winding career that has followed is one that is defined as much by failure as it is success.

The beginning of Morton’s Orioles career falls in the former category. After five starts, Morton’s ERA was an even 10.

The six innings he produced in Monday’s 5-2 Orioles win against the St. Louis Cardinals, by comparison, proved Morton correct — and it delivered Baltimore a season-best three-game winning streak.

He can still do this. His internal belief was validated for at least one start, although this didn’t come completely out of nowhere. In a bullpen role for his previous three appearances, signs of a turnaround were apparent.

And with two runs against him Monday, Morton’s last four outings have a much different sheen: 15 1/3 innings, four runs and a 17-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. That is good for a 2.35 ERA, and his once-elevated ERA has dropped all the way to 7.09.

“I’m 41 years old. I can’t really expect I’m going to go out there and have the best year of my career,” Morton said. At the same time, “I didn’t expect to come in and have a 10 ERA.”

He continued: “I made the decision to come back and play because I felt like I could do it and contribute to a team. So to have the performances that I had and to feel the way I felt ... and to have the game just kind of slap you in the face, gut-punch every single time, it’s tough. But at the same time, I think there’s solace in knowing that I don’t have to prove inherent things about myself to anybody. I don’t have to prove anything to myself — which I think is important — to my friends, my family, my peers.”

To state Morton is all the way back would still be a reach, but there were plenty of promising signs in his most recent start. It begins with his curveball. Even when catcher Pedro Pagés lifted one for a high two-run home run to left, the pitch Pagés hit was well inside. It wasn’t the type of missed location that foiled so many of Morton’s earlier appearances.

And to pair with the improved curveball location, Morton flashed high fastball velocity throughout his appearance. His four-seamer reached 96.2 mph and averaged 94.3 mph, which was about a half mph faster than usual this year.

“When the breaking ball is there, it just changes the dynamic of the at-bat,” Morton said.

Of course, for all the good Morton brought Monday, he played a large role in why Baltimore is in its current predicament at 19-34. Before this latest appearance, Morton had yet to pitch in a win. His personal record was 0-7, and the Orioles lost all 12 games in which Morton appeared.

Signed this offseason for $15 million, Morton was supposed to be a reliable rotation stabilizer, a stopgap before some of the Orioles’ injured starters returned. Instead, his poor performances helped begin a spiral, although the rotation at large struggled mightily around him, too.

With the wide-ranging pitching issues, Baltimore fell to the basement of the American League East.

The three straight wins all have something in common: strong outings from the starting pitcher. Left-hander Trevor Rogers arrived as the 27th man for Saturday’s doubleheader and delivered 6 1/3 scoreless frames. Dean Kremer provided 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Then came Morton’s six innings with two runs.

When asked how real momentum is, and how large of a role it can play, interim manager Tony Mansolino said it’s “way more in baseball than people think.”

“People in a Major League Baseball clubhouse will tell you momentum is real,” Mansolino said. And maybe, with three games going the Orioles’ way, that momentum is building.

With its starting pitchers keeping Baltimore in the game early, the Orioles’ offense produced enough for their first winning streak of the season. A small-ball approach — and some good fortune — helped Baltimore jump out to an early lead.

A throwing error from third baseman Nolan Gorman in the first wiped out what could’ve been a double play and instead allowed Gunnar Henderson’s fielder’s choice ground ball in the next at-bat to score Jackson Holliday from third.

Two innings later, Dylan Carlson notched the first of two hits to lead off the frame. He stole second, reached third on Maverick Handley’s bunt and scored when Holliday drove an RBI single into center.

Then Carlson, who played for St. Louis between 2020 and 2024, rifled a three-run homer against right-hander Erick Fedde. Carlson began his Orioles career hitting 1-for-22 in his first 14 games. In his last three games, including Monday, he has five hits.

Carlson said he would “be lying if I said no” that a homer against his former team didn’t feel good. But what weighs more to Carlson is another win. “I think, ultimately, stacking some wins together for us here is nice and feels really good.”

Carlson played a large part of an improved offensive showcase that included Ryan O’Hearn’s three hits (which rose his average to .340). The hitters had a strong platform from which to work because of Morton’s quality start.

It’s far from a sure thing Morton is back to his best. His best, after all, might realistically be in the rearview mirror. But after months of searching for this, Morton at least found something that looked more promising.

“I started to feel better a couple weeks ago and I’m glad they gave me some chances to get some innings and then start to feel it again, and start to feel like I was back to myself,” Morton said. “So, obviously, in this situation, while we’re just trying to get something going, yeah, this is a big deal. It is.”

This story has been updated.