ST. LOUIS -- After a month-long dry spell heading into the All-Star break, Nolan Gorman is once again hitting like the middle-of-the-order bat the Cardinals knew they possessed.

The 23-year-old is 9-for-18 over his past five games, with an extra-base hit in each contest.

Gorman’s bat proved to be the difference in St. Louis’ 6-4 win over the Marlins on Wednesday afternoon to complete the three-game sweep at Busch Stadium, as the second baseman knocked a three-run homer in the first inning and added an RBI single in the seventh.

Gorman’s season has been quite a roller coaster. He came out of the gates on fire, with a hit in 12 of his first 15 games. But he had been in a steady decline since then, including a .142/.212/.258 slash line over the last 35 games before the break that ended any chance of an All-Star selection in his second season.

With four days off at the midseason break, Gorman went back home to Phoenix and cleared his mind. He did pick up the bat and study, but the trip largely allowed him to reset and come back as a refreshed hitter.

To manager Oliver Marmol, Gorman looks different from how he ended the half by how he carries himself.

“Confidence, one,” Marmol said. “And you build confidence off of having some success. He looks calmer at the plate. His attempt to chase less is going to be a big contributor to that. But he’s having a lot more success, and we’re going to continue to build off of that.”

Cutting down on chases has been a big point of emphasis for Gorman, who has a 31 percent strikeout rate this season, which sits in the sixth percentile in the Majors. When he’s staying in the zone and keeping his swing on time, he feels he’s at his best.

“We work on it in the cage by just having a coach throw you pitches in the zone and out of the zone and react to it that way,” Gorman said. “The biggest thing to pitch selection is just being on time. Being ready with your foot down in a good position to go. That’s what leads to good pitch selection.”

The results are showing up in Gorman’s quality of contact, as he stung the first-inning homer (his 19th of the season) at an exit velocity of 105.9 mph and added another hard-hit ball with a 95.1-mph flyout in the third.

And he’s been crushing the ball all week; Gorman struck three balls -- two doubles and a homer -- at 106 mph or harder. When he’s making contact, which is happening more frequently of late, he makes it count, with eight of his 13 balls in play coming at 93 mph or harder.

Gorman’s hot play is coinciding with the Cardinals’ longest winning streak of the season (five straight wins) and victories in eight of their past 10 games. A strong end to the first half and an All-Star nod would have been nice, but Gorman said that winning a few more games down the stretch would have been even more important.

Fortunately for the Cardinals, Gorman seems to be rounding back into form as they continue to climb the NL Central standings, with two big four-game series coming up against the Cubs in the next 11 days.

“This is the team that we started with for the most part,” Gorman said. “This is what we expected from the start. Obviously it didn’t go that way, but it’s good to see it come together.”