Marcell Ozuna had three hits and a walk, and Miles Mikolas pitched six effective innings as the visiting St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 5-1 on Wednesday, winning for the fifth game in a row.

Mikolas (3-2) gave up one run on seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts. He got the best of Washington starter Max Scherzer (1-4), who didn't take his fourth loss last year until June 26.

In a seven-inning outing, Scherzer allowed three runs on eight hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. He passed Christy Mathewson on the all-time strikeout list and is now 34th with 2,511 strikeouts in his career.

St. Louis has won 10 of 11 while the Nationals have lost nine of their last 12 games.

The Cardinals jumped on Scherzer in the first inning.

With one out, Paul Goldschmidt and Paul DeJong had singles. Ozuna hit an RBI double, and Jose Martinez followed with a two-run single to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.

Goldschmidt entered the game 1-for-18 against Scherzer.

The Nationals trimmed the margin to 3-1 in the fourth. Victor Robles reached on a single and later scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Yan Gomes.

Yadier Molina had an RBI single off Nationals reliever Joe Ross in the eighth, after an Ozuna walk and a Martinez double, to give the Cardinals a 4-1 edge. The Nationals brought in lefty Dan Jennings, and two batters later, Harrison Bader drove in a run when he reached on an error by rookie shortstop Carter Kieboom.

Scherzer, 34, graduated from Parkway Central High School near St. Louis. He is now 2-5 in 10 career starts against the Cardinals.

Washington left fielder Juan Soto was a late scratch from the starting lineup due to a back spasm. He has reached base in 15 straight games and is batting .248 with six homers and 22 RBIs.

--Field Level Media