DENVER • On the edge of downtown, there was a roar in the night. It was a rare roar for a Colorado September.

It was the roar of fans celebrating a contender.

At 7:41 p.m., Rockies outfielder David Dahl connected with a Vince Velasquez fastball and sent it soaring to the opposite field. The shot was hanging in our thin air for a long time, which allowed fans to start their roar even before the ball clanged into the stands for a 359-foot, three-run homer.

Boom. The Rockies had bolted to a 3-1 lead, on their way to a breezy 10-3 stampede over the befuddled Phillies.

The Rockies are battling for the playoffs, most likely a wild-card spot. If you’ve been even vaguely aware of the Rockies for the past 25 seasons, you know this is not the norm.

The Rockies have lost 88 or more games 11 times in their history. That made for some long, sad baseball summers. Meanwhile, they’ve won 88 or more games only two times. We’re almost certainly on our way to No. 3. The Rockies have won 87 games with five to go. They lead the Cardinals by a half-game in the race for the second wild-card spot.

Carlos Gonzalez has suffered, along with fans, through many of those long, losing summers. He hit a bases-loaded, two-RBI double on Tuesday, his first RBI since Sept. 4.

“I think it’s great,” Gonzalez said of the victory streak. ‘We can control our own destiny. What we can do right now is play good baseball, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Usually, by this late date in the season, the Rockies are stumbling toward the finish, irrelevant to all but the most devoted fans. The Broncos have seized the state’s attention, and Coors Field is mostly empty, and quiet.

The noise of celebration lingers this season. Sometimes, it even rises to a roar. It’s a sweet change.

These are the good old days for Rockies fans. After missing the playoffs for seven straight seasons, the Rockies fought into the wild-card game in 2017. A return trip is looking probable.

It’s a strange time of year in the National League. Some teams have no hope.

And some teams — like the Rockies — are battling for the playoffs. Their seasons are fully alive. They have supreme motivation. Their fans are fully engaged in ‘18.

After the Rockies ended the Diamondbacks’ slim playoff chances over the weekend, Colorado manager Bud Black spoke with Arizona manager Torey Lovullo.

The Diamondbacks, with little to play for, were preparing for a series with the Dodgers, who have much to play for. The fate of the Dodgers is intertwined with the fate of the Rockies. The struggle to rule the NL West remains alive.

Lovullo assured Black his Diamondbacks remained hungry for victory. His team, Lovullo said, would not tank its final games.

“I defer to all managers,” Black said. “They know their players better than anybody. When (Lovullo) said that, I have total trust in what he’s doing so I have no problem.”

Lovullo and his Diamondbacks kept their promise Tuesday night, beating the Dodgers, 4-3, with a run in bottom of the ninth.

Dahl admitted the obvious. The Rockies pay attention to the scoreboard in right field.

“I think everybody kind of peeks at it,” Dahl said. “You definitely keep up, but you try not to get to into it.”

That’s the right approach. If the Rockies keep stomping opponents, and producing those downtown roars , they control their own fate.