The date was Sunday, July 30, 2017. A then 26-year-old Kyle Farmer, who had been selected by the Dodgers in the eighth-round round of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Georgia and who had been called up to the Dodgers two days earlier but had yet to make his MLB debut, was called upon by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to pinch-hit in the bottom of the 11th inning in a 2-1 ballgame. It wasn’t just any ballgame, it was a game against the San Francisco Giants, the Dodgers most hated rivals in front of a sold out Dodger Stadium crowd of 53,495.

The Giants had taken the lead in the top half of the 11th inning on an RBI single off the bat of (seemingly) perennial Dodger-killer Joe Panik, and the Dodgers were now three outs away from losing to their perennial rivals.

In the bottom of the 11th, Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor grounded out weakly to Giants third baseman Conor Gillaspie for the first out of the inning and things were beginning to look bleak for the hometown faithful; at least until 2016 National league Rookie of the Year shortstop Corey Seager lined a double to right field. With one out and a runner on second base, it was a no-brainer that Giants manager Bruce Bochy would intentionally walk Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner to set up a potential game-ending double play.

It didn’t happen.

In his first major league at-bat in his first major league game, pinch-hitter Kyle Farmer roped a 1-2 fastball off of Giants right-hander Albert Suárez down the right field line and into the corner to score both Seager and Turner for a dramatic 3-2 walk-off  Dodgers win that caused Farmer to be mobbed (and drenched) by his teammates and turning the Dodger Stadium crown into an absolute frenzy. It was yet another great moment in the (near) century-and-a-half-old rivalry between two of baseball’s most bitter opponents, and it was epic.

In his first major league at-bat, Farmer looped a double into the right field corner for a dramatic walk-off win in his MLB debut. (Photo credit – Richard Mackson. Click on image to view video)

Fast-forward to Sunday, April 8, 2018.

The Dodgers and Giants were locked in yet another intense tied ballgame, this one at 1-1 heading into the top of the 10th inning in front of a sold out AT&T Park crowd of 42,374. Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw had nursed a 1-0 Dodgers lead into the bottom of the eighth inning when he gave up back-to-back singles to Giants left fielder Hunter Pence and shortstop Kelby Tomlinson. At the 92-pitch mark, Roberts elected to pull his ace who, to date, had received a grand total of two runs of support from his teammates in his first three starts, opting to go with left-hander JT Chargois instead. Giants catcher Buster Posey promptly lined a sharp single to right scoring Pence, to tie the game 1-1 and yet again deny Kershaw his first win of the season. Chargois then induced a 5-4-3 double play and got Panik to fly out to Dodgers left fielder Joc Pederson to escape the inning without further damage.

For the second time in as many days and for the third time in their eight games thus far this season, the Dodgers went into extra innings, including a 14-inning affair the night before during which Roberts had used up his entire bullpen and his entire bench.

Just as Corey Seager had done on July 30, 2017, albeit with no outs, Dodgers first baseman and 2017 National league Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger doubled down the left field line (that’s not a typo), immediately prompting Bochy to intentionally walk Seager, yet again in hopes of inducing a double play. Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig then flied out to center for the first out of the inning, thus keeping Bochy’s hopes for an inning-ending double play alive.

It didn’t happen.

Off the bench came Dodgers back-up catcher / utility infielder Kyle Farmer to pinch-hit for Dodgers reliever (and new papa) Josh Fields. The now 27-year-old Atlanta, Georgia native was Roberts’ last bench player. This was it. After working the count to 3-1 off of Giants right-hander Pierce Johnson, Farmer laced a hard line drive over the head of Giants right fielder (and Saturday night’s walk-off hero) Andrew McCutchen that bounced off the wall, allowing Bellinger to score just ahead of the throw to the plate to give the Dodgers the eventual 2-1 win, and it was epic.

“Kyle Farmer comes through against San Francisco again!” – Joe Davis
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo. Click on image to view video)

“I was the last guy on the bench. I don’t think they had any choice,” Farmer kidded with reporters, after the game. “I don’t think they wanted to put [Dodgers left-handed starting pitcher Hyun-Jin] Ryu back in there to hit.

“I knew he had a cutter, curveball and a four-seam fastball,” added Farmer. “I saw what they were doing to me the last few games, throwing me in. So they kept pounding me inside. Two-and-0, he threw me a cutter so 3-and-1 I was thinking cutter as well.”

Déjà vu all over again.