At 20-6, the Cardinals are off to the best start in franchise history.

Down by at least three runs for the third time in two nights to the Cubs, the Cardinals conjured a rally and pressed on for a 7-4 victory Tuesday at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won their eighth consecutive game and improved their franchise-record start to 20-6. They have ceaselessly left rivals sleepless with the ways they can steal wins. They’ve done so with power, speed, pinch hitting, relief pitching, and, of course, plenty of Socolovich.

During the winning streak at least, the Cardinals are back to being a clutch team. They are keeping the bases busy with a .301 BA and a .379 OBP in the last eight games, although the great majority of their hits are singles. With runners in scoring position, however, they are hitting .385. They are doing a great job of filling the bases and pushing runners around to the plate.