Max Scherzer overcame a windy, cold day that resulted in forearm soreness to retired 12 his last 13 batters and struck out nine in six innings to move up to No. 21 on the career K's leaderboard, helping the Washington Nationals edge the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0 Wednesday.

Scherzer struck out Dylan Carlson swinging through a 93 mph fastball with his 109th and final pitch. The righty's strikeout of Justin Williams to end the fourth gave Scherzer 2,814 for his career, moving him one ahead of Hall of Famer Mike Mussina. Next up: Mickey Lolich, whose 2,832 strikeouts rank 20th in MLB history.

Scherzer ended up allowing four hits and one walk and lowering his ERA to 1.80.

Alex Avila drove in the game's lone run in the second off Carlos Martinez (0-4) with one of his two doubles - his first hits as a member of the Nationals.

Carlos Martinez allowed four hits in six innings in his longest outing since going seven on July 7, 2018.

For the second game in a row, Nationals righty Tanner Rainey entered in relief in the seventh to protect a 1-0 lead.

In the eighth, Daniel Hudson gave up a hit and walked two batters to load the bases with two outs, but got Carpenter - who is now batting .081 - to fly out to right.

Brad Hand worked the ninth for his third save this season. It's his 24th successful save chance in a row, the longest active streak in the majors.

The Cardinals open a three-game series at home Friday against the Reds, with St. Louis LHP Kwang Hyun Kim (0-0, 9.00 ERA) on the mound.