Looking at this in a vacuum, it was quite a start for right-hander Charlie Morton. His 10 strikeouts in five innings made him just the fifth pitcher in Orioles history to do such a thing; at 41 years old, he became the oldest Orioles pitcher to reach double-digit strikeouts.

But forget the whiffs and focus in on the two loud blasts off the bats of Boston Red Sox hitters, and the root of the problem arises. Morton may have racked up the strikeouts, but when Boston’s hitters did make contact, they caused issues.

There was the sinker left over the heart of the plate in the first inning. There was the curveball left hanging in the second inning. Take away those two pitches and this 8-4 series-ending loss might have been a win.

Instead, the Orioles lost the series, and a week into the new season, there are more questions than answers surrounding their starting rotation. Those questions arose this winter, when general manager Mike Elias assembled a staff that relied on depth rather than a high-end arm to lead it.

Morton was one of those floor-raising additions. He signed this offseason for $15 million, and while two starts is a small sample, Morton is off to a difficult start in Baltimore with a 9.72 ERA. When combined with the rest of the staff, they share a 6.35 ERA. Removing Zach Eflin’s 3.75 ERA from that mix raises the group’s tally to 7.77.

Eflin is the lone starter to complete six innings so far. Manager Brandon Hyde commended Morton for completing five innings, considering his elevated pitch count in the first two innings.

“There was some early inefficiency that ran my pitch count up,” Morton said. “And they made me pay for those walks with the long ball, two good swings.”

Still, there’s a confusing nature to this start. On Thursday, Morton struck out 10 batters for the first time since Aug. 23, 2023. He has been a steady pitcher throughout his career, but his game has never relied on swing-and-miss stuff to be successful.

He has relied, however, on soft contact. On command and placement. Morton lost that at a critical time twice early in Thursday’s afternoon matinee, and it cost him. Before Alex Bregman’s deep homer to left in the first inning, Morton had walked Rafael Devers. And before Kristian Campbell sent a line drive over that new-look wall in left, Morton had walked Wilyer Abreu.

Morton recognizes how Bregman “ambushed” his heater on the first-pitch of the plate appearance, and it only continued a great series for the free agent acquisition. Bregman finished the three-game set with five hits, including two doubles and a homer Thursday.

But the ability for Campbell, a 22-year-old who recently signed a contract extension, to stay on his full-count breaking ball surprised Morton.

“I saw a flinch on the first breaking ball I threw to him,” Morton said. “I saw a flinch on the second breaking ball I threw to him. On 3-2, you don’t necessarily think that hitters will — especially in that situation from what I saw — be able to stay on that breaking ball. And it was a decent pitch. For a 3-2 curveball, it’s a decent pitch. I can second guess it. I can look back and go, ‘Man, maybe if I got the ball on the ground, sinker or whatever.‘"

The pair of free passes made the long balls hurt twice as much. And they put pressure on an offense that was held down the night before by left-hander Garrett Crochet.

Baltimore had more success against right-hander Tanner Houck than Crochet. Still, that success was held to three runs. Cedric Mullins was the centerpiece of it, marking his 700th career game for the Orioles with a performance that was reminiscent of his 2021 best.

Mullins, hitting leadoff for the first time since 2023, lashed a solo homer to right field in the first inning. In the third, Mullins walked and stole second base, then scored on Jordan Westburg’s two-out knock. And a third run came home in the fourth when Heston Kjerstad doubled and Ramón Urías plated him.

Those breakthroughs weren’t enough as it is. Then Triston Casas, in a left-on-left matchup with Keegan Akin, lofted Boston’s third two-run homer of the game to stretch the Red Sox’s lead more.

It was a fine, if unspectacular, outing from Morton. But when combined with the four runs in 3 1/3 innings he allowed in Toronto last week — and when multiplied by the lackluster performances by any starter not named Eflin — the early season displays from this rotation leave much to be desired.

“He was better this time out than he was in Toronto,” Hyde said. “Thought his curveball was better. He had better put-away stuff. Stuff was good, just the middle pitch to Bregman and to have a backup curveball to the young kid Campbell.”

There are paths toward improvement. Performances early in the season don’t dictate how a player will perform throughout one. Plus, the return of Kyle Gibson, and later on the returns of Grayson Rodriguez, Tyler Wells or Kyle Bradish from injury, may well be the necessary inputs for success.

For now, at least, the Orioles will hope the wobble now will straighten out later.

“It’s tough to really evaluate for three or four regular season starts,” Morton said. “It’s hard to go off of that. It’s hard to go off where hitters are. It’s hard to go off where you are at that point.”