While once again disappointed Mariners fans are already speaking Filipino about offseason transfer predictions, one prediction involving Bryce Miller in particular gives me a lot of grief (usually in the form of Bryce Miller facing a pay cut to one of the Mitches, which only makes matters worse). Miller seems to be the pitcher most fans would like to see in hypothetical transfer packages, which is understandable: He’s not an All-Star (yet) like Gilbert or Kirby, and he’s not an analyst darling like Woo. What makes Bryce Miller so special, his value-added quality, is something that may not be immediately apparent to the average fan: his ability to adapt, innovate and change, even mid-game, which was on full display tonight.

Miller navigated his way around the top of the Yankees lineup in the first inning, battling Gleyber Torres for six pitches that ended in a flyout, walking Juan Soto after five pitches, but then managing two consecutive strikeouts of Aaron Judge (splitter) and Austin Wells (four-seamer) to end the inning unscathed, even if it cost him 25 pitches.

Unfortunately, Miller was right back in, as the Robles-less Mariners leadoff hitter Nestor Cortes couldn’t offer as much resistance. Julio Rodríguez struck out on a cutter, Cal Raleigh retired on the first pitch he saw, and Randy Arozarena was called for hitting on a pitch that didn’t come anywhere close to the swing Soto made last night after a woo pitch, giving Cortes an easy 13-pitch inning.

Miller didn’t help himself in the second inning by working against the middle of the lineup. He walked Jasson Domínguez, who is striking out over 30% of the time this season; Domínguez then stole second base and reached third on a mishit throw by Cal Raleigh. Miller then threw a slider to Anthony Rizzo that landed right in the middle of the plate, which Rizzo was able to redirect into an RBI single: a huge run, as it was the only run scored in nearly eight innings in the entire game. More on that later. After the game, Miller was annoyed (he would say “irritated”) with himself for trying to “do too much” in the beginning: he nibbled, was too fine, and fell behind in counts. In the first three innings alone, he managed five 2-0 counts, which is remarkable for the club that leads MLB in fewest 2-0 counts.

Much of the attention tonight will be focused on how the game ended—a new and fresh way to stick the knife in the face of a team whose endless innovations in the field of torture put any modern master of horror to shame—but let’s be clear: The reason the game ended the way it did was because the Mariners offense once again wasted scoring opportunities like dandelion fluff on a late summer night. The Mariners had a chance to tie the game in the second inning with a leadoff double by Justin Turner that just missed a home run, but Jorge Polanco and Mitch Garver got consecutive outs. JP Crawford extended the game with an infield hit, moving Turner to third base, but the other Mitch, the right-handed Haniger, playing in place of the left-handed Raley, struck out to end the inning. The Mariners struck out a miserable 14 times tonight, proving once again that their strikeout woes are not behind them, allowing just six hits – and four of those came on multi-hit games from Cal Raleigh and Justin Turner.

Miller had to pitch more cleverly in the third inning, getting around a two-out double by Juan Soto, who was a little unlucky (full count, just fair down the right field line on a pitch thrown by Soto, Haniger nearly threw him out at second base). The Mariners then wisely decided to walk Aaron Judge, but Miller then fell behind 2-0 to Austin Wells before finally allowing him a five-pitch walk to load the bases. Miller was able to recover and strike out Jazz Chisholm Jr. with his splitter, but finished the third inning with 63 pitches, only 50% of which were strikes.

After that, however, Miller turned things around and made the kind of in-game adjustments that seem to come naturally to him. He pitched his first clean inning of the day in the fourth, going 1-2-3 through the bottom of the lineup and getting two more strikeouts, both with the splitter. He had a similarly good fifth inning, needing just 11 pitches to end the inning, eight of which Soto threw in that at-bat that ended in a strikeout:

Miller said he not only targeted the Yankees as a rematch after struggling against them the last time these teams met, but he was also looking to keep Judge and Soto under control, noting, “They beat us last night.” Aside from Soto’s double, Miller – and the rest of the Mariners’ pitching staff – managed to keep the Twin Titans hitless (though with three total walks) while also keeping leadoff man Gleyber Torres – who was 0 for 5 on the night – off base.

But the Mariners weren’t interested in helping Miller run. They issued a walk in the fourth inning and left another runner on third base in the fifth after Mitch Haniger got a base hit. Haniger got to third on a two-out single by Cal Raleigh, but Randy Arozarena hit a pop-up to end the inning, drawing boos from the relatively few Mariners fans in attendance and loud cheers from the many, many Yankees fans hoping to see their team clinch a postseason berth.

After Cortes was finally out of the game in the seventh inning, the Yankees turned to Tommy Kahnle, who had no control of his stuff at all. He walked JP Crawford to start the inning before throwing out Mitch Haniger and letting pinch-hitter Josh Rojas chase a changeup. Aaron Boone didn’t want to deal with a runner in scoring position and decided to use Clay Holmes, who had recently been undeservedly preferred over Andrés Muñoz for the All-Star Game, to face Julio, who had to walk after a questionable decision by HP umpire Jim Wolf. That brought in Cal Raleigh, who also completed the count before ending the inning with a flyout, leaving even more runners behind.

The Mariners got two excellent innings in relief from Troy Taylor, who smashed the bottom half of the Yankees’ lineup and struck out everyone, and a harder-fought but still hitless inning from Andrés Muñoz, who grappled with the Judge-Soto part of the lineup in the eighth inning, meaning the Mariners had their best chance to score in the bottom of the eighth, still against Holmes. Arozarena struck out and brought in Justin Turner, who proved the old hand still has it with a great home run followed by an even greater bat flip:

Unfortunately, neither Jorge Polanco nor Mitch Garver have played well all season, and both failed to get a start against new pitcher, former Mariner Luke Weaver. Ouch. After a scoreless ninth inning by Collin Snider, Weaver was back in the field. He started with a walk to JP Crawford, who remembered his old self and has the power to do it in these situations, but the next three batters (pinch-hitter Luke Raley, Rojas and Julio) seemed a little overeager to get things done in regulation time, swinging the bat uninhibitedly to get three quick outs.

The Yankees also swung the bat quickly against Collin Snider, who was out for another inning, but their efforts were rewarded with their first run since the second inning when Rizzo used a sweep on the first pitch for a double to lead off. Snider was able to add to the damage thanks to an ill-advised bunt by Volpe, a flyout by Verdugo and a little parachute hit that could have caused trouble but was prevented by a great dive by Luke Raley.

Despite this solid defense, the game ended in as devastating a manner as possible. Cal Raleigh faced new reliever Ian Hamilton and forced Julio’s ghost runner to third base to put runners on the corners with no outs. However, Randy Arozarena struck out and lost the grip of his bat, which flew down third base. In an attempt to avoid the bat, Julio did not get back to third base in time and was intercepted, causing Cal Raleigh to completely surrender at first base. Justin Turner then struck out because he could not be expected to score all the runs for this team, ending the game.

“Honestly, a bat just flew in my face and I just ran away,” Julio said after the game, describing himself as “shocked” when the bat came flying at him. He also said he thought the ball was going to be ruled dead, but then he heard Manny Acta on third base tell him to return to the base. While he doesn’t necessarily agree with the umpire’s explanation, he says he understands it. “Now I know.”

Much attention will be paid to the particularly heartbreaking ending to this game, but don’t let an unfortunate play at third base distract you from the fact that the problems here are essentially the same as they have been all season. Too many strikeouts. Lack of timely and sequential hits. Issues hitting left-handed pitchers. At-bats where the batter is put in a tough spot early and immediately at a disadvantage. As has been the case all season, what works has continued to work and what doesn’t work hasn’t. In his second full season, Bryce Miller has already proven he’s a pro at making adjustments; the rest of the organization needs to catch up.