DENVER -- It’ll take more than a rare three-game win streak to legitimately put the Rockies on the upswing, but there is no questioning that Ryan McMahon is skyrocketing. McMahon homered twice, his fourth and fifth over his last five games, in an 11-4 victory over the Marlins on Saturday night at Coors Field.

The Rockies have won three in a row for the first time since sweeping a series at Arizona on June 18-20. Back then, Colorado was six games above .500 and in the thick of the National League Wild Card race. Now, at 56-67, much talk has turned to younger players, such as McMahon in his first year as the regular second baseman.

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While Rockies fans miss DJ LeMahieu, who is having a big year after signing with the Yankees this past offseason, McMahon is giving reason to look ahead. After a brief challenge for playing time from prospect Brendan Rodgers, who is out for the season after right shoulder labrum surgery, McMahon has taken off.

In his last five games, McMahon is 6-for-17, with all but one of those hits clearing the fence.

“The second half, he’s gained some momentum,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “The playing time has been pretty regular all year. We give him a day here and there, but he’s proving that he’s built to play.”

The Rockies are trying to ignore their long postseason odds -- big plays, such as McMahon's homers, are celebrated with players pantomiming cockroach antennae to signify that they aren’t dead. Wherever this leads, McMahon is happy his performance is reinforcing overall attitude.

“It’s so much easier when you have success to be in a good mood and talk about the right things,” McMahon said. “Throughout this season, we haven’t been there the whole time. But we’re there right now. Hopefully, we’ll keep it rolling.”

After Trevor Story’s two-run homer in the second and Charlie Blackmon’s solo shot in the fifth, both off Marlins starter Hector Noesi, McMahon homered off Adam Conley to open a three-run sixth inning that gave the Rockies a 9-3 lead. The rally was needed, as the Marlins’ Garrett Cooper had homered in the top of the inning to cut the Rockies’ lead to three runs.

McMahon’s 17th homer of the season -- and second solo shot to center -- came against Wei-Yin Chen with two outs in the seventh. Ian Desmond followed with his 14th homer of the year.

A concerning Coors effect
Rockies right-hander German Marquez is battling an odd Coors Field effect.

Marquez exited with cramping for his second straight home start. This time, he had struck out eight in five innings and left with a 6-2 lead.

In his previous start at home, Marquez went six scoreless innings and fanned 10 Dodgers on July 31 before what the club announced was full-body cramping. After that outing, Marquez said he needed to pay more attention to hydration due to Denver's unique, high-altitude climate, an issue emphasized by many teams in various sports when traveling to the Mile High City.

However, Marquez said Saturday was not as serious.

“It wasn’t similar at all -- I felt just a little cramp and I didn’t want the same thing to happen again, so I said something,” Marquez said through an interpreter. “It’s just drinking water, getting treatment and electrolytes.

“Fastball command was there. Offspeed was there.”