Officially, the Rockies were eliminated from the postseason on Aug. 24. Realistically, they were eliminated when they lost eight straight games in late April to open the season 4-25.

OK, it was even earlier than that.

Nonetheless, as the worst season in franchise history nears the finish line, the Rockies (39-101) say they still have a lot to play for, not just as individuals, but as a team.

“I think we want to be tested,” All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman said. “And we have a chance to affect other teams’ — winning teams’ — seasons. I think that’s a challenge we want.”

Beginning with Friday night’s game against the Padres at Coors Field, 16 of the Rockies’ final 22 games are against teams with winning records and with a shot at making the playoffs. Two of the teams — San Diego (76-64) and L.A. (78-62) — are battling for the National League West title. The other two teams — San Francisco (71-69) and Seattle (73-67) — remain on the fringe of the playoff hunt.

The Rockies, who entered Friday’s game having lost 11 of their last 13 games, are on pace to lose 117 games. Still, they insist they have plenty to play for.

“We have talked about the opportunity almost to feel what it’s like to be in the playoff hunt,” outfielder Mickey Moniak said. “We have a chance to play spoiler.

“And having such a young clubhouse, it would be a good experience for everybody to, A, run the gauntlet of those teams that are going to be in the playoffs and see how we stack up. And, B, finish the month off strong as we head into the offseason.”

A gauntlet, for sure. After this weekend’s three-game series with the Padres, Colorado heads to Los Angeles to play four games against the Dodgers, then gets a rematch against the Padres for three games at Petco Park in San Diego.

“That’s great for us,” Moniak said. “It will be a good environment to play in. Dodger Stadium, and nowadays Petco, are some of the craziest places to play. It’s a great experience to go into those hostile environments. To get comfortable in those environments, it takes experience, and I think it will be good for us to get some.”

The Padres and Dodgers have dominated the Rockies this season. The Padres are 5-1 against them, while the Dodgers are 8-2. However, the Padres lost four consecutive games before they came to LoDo, so they could ill afford to lose a series to the worst team in the majors.

In May, the Padres swept three games at Coors Field, scoring a combined 37 runs, the second-most runs scored in a three-game series in Padres history.

Colorado interim manager Warren Schaeffer wants to see how his team reacts.

“We fight to the end, and that’s what these guys show every night,” he said. “In the grand scheme of things, that’s the way it’s going to go all of September. (The Padres) are playing big-time games, L.A. is playing big-time games … We have a lot of good teams coming up. The guys are up to the challenge, and I think it’s going to be huge for us.”

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