Years from now and regardless of whether or not the Dodgers go on to win the 2017 National League Division Series, Championship Series and World Series, there will be one guy (and thousands of Dodger fans) who will forever remember the bottom of the fourth inning of game-2 of the 2107 NLDS at Dodger Stadium.

It wasn’t a clutch home run or even a highlight-reel defensive play or anything like that. It was, of all things, a wild pitch.

With the Dodgers trailing 2-1 and the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts opted to have 27-year-old rookie catcher / utility infielder Kyle Farmer pinch-hit for Dodgers starter Rich Hill; this in spite of the fact that Hill had made only 78 pitches on the night and, to that point, had pitched quite well.

“Kyle is a great story, first time in the big leagues and got a little service this year, and came up with some big hits for us, and we liked the at-bat,” Roberts said of Farmer after the the game. “Guys like him, he understands the game, he’s a great kid, and yeah, obviously [the Diamondbacks] haven’t ever seen him … just competed right there, and [Dbacks starting pitcher Robbie] Ray is a tough one.

“I don’t know if it was an eight, nine-pitch at-bat – something like that – but we ended up scoring a run on a wild pitch that inning. But yeah, Kyle – every time we get him in there – we like him,” Roberts added.

It was indeed an eight-pitch at-bat and it tied the score at 2-2.

(Image courtesy of MLB.com – click on image to enlarge)

“I love being in high leverage situations like that, especially in a playoff game,” said Farmer of his first and now-famous postseason at-bat. “Sometimes you win the at-bat and sometimes you lose the at-bat, and I didn’t get the results I wanted, but it was a quality at-bat and I’m glad Logan [Forsythe] got a good jump on the ball in the dirt to tie the game.”

Diamondbacks catcher Chris Iannetta was unable to handle Robbie Ray’s pitch in the dirt during Kyle Farmer’s key pinch-hit at-bat in game-2 of the NLDS. The wild pitch allowed the (then) game-tying run to score and was the turning point of the game. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Well done, Kyle. Well done indeed.