Jamie Moyer pitched seven scoreless innings on Wednesday, resulting in a no-decision. (John Froschauer/AP)

SEATTLE -- Aaron Harang and Jamie Moyer put on an absolute clinic on the art of pitching Wednesday night, but you'd be hard pressed to find two instructors so distinctly different.

Harang is a 24-year-old rookie righthander who stands 6-foot-6 and tips the scales in the neighborhood of 240 pounds. Moyer is a 39-year-old lefty in his 16th season of big-league ball, and he's listed at 6-0, 175.

Harang goes right at guys, often finishing them off with high heat. Moyer is a nibbler, deftly painting various edges of the strike zone with an assortment of offspeed stuff that seems to lull hitters to sleep.

But as proved by the third game of this series, a 1-0 classic claimed by the Mariners, pitching is a little bit like golf in that it's not how; it's how many.

As in runs, and for Harang and Moyer it was zero. Baseball can be unfair in so many ways, but there was something so right about neither man having to take the loss.

"Tonight was an old-fashioned pitcher's duel," Harang said. "We were just going back and forth."

Given the competition, Harang's sixth big-league start was probably his best. He made his debut against Tampa Bay on May 25 and struck out 10 over seven shutout innings, but dominating a last-place team is one thing. Doing it to a first-place team on the road is quite another. He worked 6 1/3 innings Wednesday, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out six.

"I kept the ball down in the zone more tonight than in my first start," he said. "Against Tampa Bay I was working pretty high. I felt good both days, but today I did a better job of getting the ball down."

Only once did a Seattle baserunner get past second base while Harang was on the mound. That was in the fifth, and he got out of the mini-jam -- runners at the corners, two out -- by getting the Mariners' most dangerous hitter, Ichiro Suzuki, on a harmless grounder to third.

That was just the latest display of his uncanny poise. In the first inning he broke Jeff Cirillo's bat with a fastball, resulting in a soft popup to the right of the mound, but Harang whiffed on the catch, and the ball bounced off his foot and into foul ground for an embarrassing error. After berating himself briefly, he struck out John Olerud and Ruben Sierra to end the inning.

"That's what he's shown us ever since he got here," said A's manager Art Howe. "Nothing fazes him."

Jamie Moyer   /   P
	Height: 6'0" Weight: 175 Bats/Throws: L/L More info: Player page Stats Splits Mariners site

"That's what he does so well ... he's got like three different changeups," said outfielder Adam Piatt, who went 0-for-3. "I think I only saw two fastballs from him all night. ... He makes it look so easy. He looks like he can pitch until he's 65 years old. He can do it forever."

Added Howe: "Typical Moyer. He throws below hitting speed."

A's righthander Tim Hudson, who knows a little something about good pitching, had one of the best seats in the house for the Harang vs. Moyer battle and said that he and his fellow moundsmen were suitably impressed.

"We appreciate it because we understand how tough it is to put up zero after zero, especially against a team like Seattle," he said. "And Aaron was just as tough as Moyer. I know the typical fan likes to see runs and long balls and a bunch of offense, but games like this are fun for us to watch.

"It's just rare to see a well-pitched game on both sides. And this was that all night."

Mychael Urban covers the Oakland A's for MLB.com and can be reached at murban@oaklandathletics.com. This report was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.