SAN DIEGO -- Max Scherzer dominated the Padres on Saturday night, which was not a major surprise to San Diego manager Bud Black.

"He's doing it to everyone," Black said after Scherzer held the Padres scoreless on four hits in seven innings Saturday night as the Nationals defeated San Diego 4-1 before the fourth-largest crowd (45,282) in Petco Park history.

"It's not just stuff with Scherzer -- and he's got stuff. He's also deceptive with that funky delivery."

Scherzer (4-3) struck out a season-high 11 -- his third double-digit strikeout game in his last four outings -- while lowering his ERA to 1.75. He retired the first 10 hitters he faced.

"Max has the ability to dial it up when he needs to," Washington manager Matt Williams said. "He was in control. He ran into a couple of tough spots, but he made pitches when he needed to."

Scherzer retired the first 10 Padres he faced, getting five on strikes, before center fielder Will Venable walked with one out in the fourth. Right fielder Matt Kemp followed with a single and first baseman Yangervis Solarte drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. But third baseman Will Middlebrooks popped out to second on the first pitch to end the threat.

The Padres failed on opportunities to score in the sixth (Venable doubled with one out for the Padres' first extra-base hit in 19 innings) and seventh (runners on first and third with one out).

"I always believe your last 15 pitches dictate kind of how you feel about your start," Scherzer said. "Even though they were able to scratch a couple hits, I was still able to pitch my best. I still had my best fastball, my best stuff, even though I was approaching the end."

San Diego scored with two outs in the ninth on shortstop Alexi Amarista's run-scoring single against right-handed reliever Aaron Barrett -- ending a string of 21 straight scoreless innings and avoiding a second straight shutout.

Nationals right-hander Drew Storen struck out catcher Derek Norris to pick up his 11th save.

Meanwhile, the Nationals stopped a major league record streak by scoring three runs against Padres starter Andrew Cashner in the first inning.

Cashner entered the game having gone 21 straight starts at Petco Park without allowing more than two earned runs in a game -- the longest such home streak ever.

With one out in the first, Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond doubled and scored on a single to right by third baseman Yunei Escobar, who advanced to second on Kemp's throwing error.

Escobar advanced to third on right fielder Bryce Harper's single and scored on first baseman Ryan Zimmerman's groundout to second.

Harper scored to make it 3-0 when catcher Wilson Ramos singled to center to extend his hitting streak to a major league-best 18 straight games.

The Nationals threatened in the second and third.

In the second, Washington had runners on first and second with one out when Michael Taylor was thrown out try to steal third by Padres rookie catcher Austin Hedges -- the first caught stealing throw in Hedges' major league career.

In the third, the Nationals had runners at first and second with none out when Padres second baseman Cory Spangenberg made a diving stop to his right to start a double play.

But the Nationals widened the lead to 4-0 in the fourth thanks to a wild throw by Cashner.

With one out and second baseman Danny Espinosa on first with a walk, Scherzer bunted back toward the mound. Cashner fielded the ball and threw so wildly to second that center fielder Will Venable had to make a diving stop to prevent the throw from rolling toward the fence. Espinosa scored on center fielder Denard Span's sacrifice fly to left.

Cashner worked six innings, allowing four runs (three earned), nine hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Cashner fell to 1-7 despite a 3.24 ERA.

The Padres have scored one run in Cashner's last three starts and three in his last five while being shut out three times.

"I just made a bunch of mistakes in the first inning," Cashner said. "My fastball was up and the hits came off three sliders and a changeup. I didn't get going in the first. I was trying to do too much and I didn't make pitches."

NOTES: The Padres learned Saturday that "original Padre" OF Ollie Brown died. Brown was San Diego's first pick in the draft to stock the 1969 expansion Padres with players. ... Washington LF Jayson Werth won't play at least until Tuesday after being hit on the left wrist by a pitch Friday night. He will have an MRI when the swelling goes down. ... The injury that placed Nationals RHP Doug Fister on the 15-day disabled list Friday was described as a flexor strain. ... Padres OF Melvin Upton Jr., who has been on the disabled list since the start of the season with a foot injury, will start a rehab assignment with Triple-A El Paso on Monday. ... Padres manager Bud Black said RHP Odrisamer Despaigne, who has given up 15 runs and 20 hits in eight innings in his last two starts, will make at least one more start, although he might be pushed back in the rotation.