@Giants 4, Padres 0 — With his second complete game in the last three seasons, Tim Lincecum became the 23rd* pitcher since 1914 with two or more no-hitters, and the first with two against one opponent. (One guy double-dipped before the searchable era.) Lincecum walked only one, despite just 12 first-pitch strikes out of 28 batters.

• The Pads have long been his favorite opponent: now 15-6, 2.38 in 28 starts, with 210 Ks in 187.1 IP.
• If Lincecum’s ERA stays over 4 this year, he’d be the first pitcher with two no-hitters in seasons with ERA of 4.00 or above.

* Counting the one Roy Halladay threw in the 2010 NLDS.

I had hoped to do more on this, but here’s what I have for you. You can help flesh out the bones.

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Among the 23 pitchers with multiple no-hitters since 1914:

Gap between no-hitters, measured by the pitcher’s intervening games:

• 0 — Johnny Vander Meer (same year)
• 5 — Warren Spahn
• 11 — Nolan Ryan
• 13 — Nolan Ryan (same year), Sandy Koufax
• 17 — Homer Bailey, Allie Reynolds (same year)
• 21 — Virgil Trucks (same year)
• 22 — Roy Halladay (same year, second one in NLDS)
• 24 — Nolan Ryan
• 28 — Tim Lincecum
• 45 — Sandy Koufax
• 47 — Steve Busby
• 52 — Sandy Koufax
• 55 — Don Wilson
• 56 — Dutch Leonard
• 58 — Nolan Ryan
• 61 — Ken Holtzman
• 80 — Mark Buehrle
• 98 — Bob Feller
• 108 — Jim Maloney
• 124 — Hideo Nomo
• 127 — Justin Verlander
• 133 — Carl Erskine
• 153 — Bill Stoneman
• 183 — Bob Forsch
• 211 — Nolan Ryan
• 214 — Bob Feller
• 223 — Jim Bunning
• 268 — Nolan Ryan
• 418 — Randy Johnson

Highest ERA in any of their no-hitter years (total of 49 seasons):

• 4.50 — Hideo Nomo, 2001
• 4.48 — Ken Holtzman, 1971
• 4.42 — Tim Lincecum, 2014 (year in progress)
• 4.39 — Bill Stoneman, 1969
• 4.37 — Tim Lincecum, 2013
• 4.28 — Bob Forsch, 1983
• 4.25 — Carl Erskine, 1956
• 4.23 — Steve Busby, 1973
• 4.00 — Don Wilson, 1969

Fewest wins in any of their no-hitter years:

• 5 — Virgil Trucks, 1952
• 6 — Tim Lincecum, 2014 (year in progress)
• 8 — Dutch Leonard, 1918 (left MLB in June for wartime service work)
• 9 — Ken Holtzman, 1971
• 10 — Tim Lincecum, 2013; Mark Buehrle, ’07; Bob Forsch, ’83; Don Wilson, ’67

Lowest winning percentage in their no-hitter years:

• .208 — Virgil Trucks, 1952 (5-19)
• .367 — Bill Stoneman, 1969 (11-19)
• .375 — Ken Holtzman, 1971 (9-15)
• .393 — Bob Forsch, 1978 (11-17)
• .417 — Tim Lincecum, 2013 (10-14)
• .455 — Bob Forsch, 1983 (10-12)
• .462 — Bill Stoneman, 1972 (12-14)
• .478 — Homer Bailey, 2013 (11-12)
• .516 — Steve Busby, 1973 (16-15)
• .526 — Mark Buehrle, 2007 (10-9)
• .526 — Don Wilson, 1967 (10-9)
• .533 — Randy Johnson, 2004 (16-14)
• .538 — Nolan Ryan, 1975 (14-12)
• .538 — Jim Bunning, 1958 (14-12)
• .542 — Carl Erskine, 1956 (13-11)
• .545 — Tim Lincecum, 2014 (6-5, year in progress)

Fewest career shutouts:

• 3 — Homer Bailey (active)
• 6 — Justin Verlander (active)
• 7 — Tim Lincecum (active), Steve Busby
• 9 — Mark Buehrle (active), Hideo Nomo
• 14 — Carl Erskine

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A couple of no-no notes on Ken Holtzman:

• His first no-hitter featured no strikeouts — one of two such since 1914 (the only one among these 54), and the only K-free shutout in the 1969 season. It came in Wrigley Field, four years to the day since Jim Maloney had no-hit the Cubs there over 10 innings.
• Holtzman’s second no-no came amidst this wacky stretch: Three days before, he was shellacked to a career-worst 12 Game Score. (Check out the 1st and 4th innings.) Two days afterward, Leo Durocher brought Holtzman in to save a game in the 11th, but he served up a 3-run walk-off blast to Mike Lum — the only game-ending event Holtzman ever surrendered when he had the lead. And three days after that, he notched a career-best 96 Game Score in a 12-inning shutout of the Pirates — the same team that whomped him to start the sequence.
• He came within one out of a third no-hitter: On June 8, 1975, he had gotten 26 outs from 26 Tigers (one walk erased by DP), but was turned away by Tom Veryzer. Yes, by Tom Veryzer.

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David Schoenfield’s otherwise lovely post repeats the canard that “no-hitters have become more prevalent in recent seasons.” This belief is still popular, but it’s unfounded — as long as you don’t cherry-pick the comparison years, or ignore the expansion from 16 teams to 30. Rather than repeat my whole case, I’ll just note key examples. All rates are expressed per 30 teams, and for the 5 seasons ending in a given year:

• Sandy Koufax threw a no-hitter each year from 1962-65.
  1961-65 rate: 23 with Sandy, 17 without.
• Nolan Ryan threw two no-hitters in 1973.
  1969-73 rate: 26 with Ryan, 24 without.
• Ryan totaled four no-hitters from 1973-75.
  1971-75 rate: 20 with Ryan, 15 without.
• Bob Feller’s third no-hitter — then a record — came in 1951.
  1947-51 rate: 19 with Feller, 17 without.
• Lincecum has two no-hitters in the last two seasons.
  2010-14 rate: 21 with Lincecum, 19 without.

The historical context in which Lincecum has pitched is not more friendly to no-hitters than that of Koufax or Ryan.

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Lastly … With so much credit for the no-hitter being laid on San Diego’s historically weak offense, a few modest counterpoints are in order:

• No other starter against them has gone past 7 innings allowing one hit or less.
• Seattle has been held to 2 hits or less five times, one more than the Padres.
• San Diego’s .217  BA against right-handers is not so much worse than the Cubs’ .223.
• Against Lincecum in April, they got 7 hits and 3 runs in 6 IP.
• There is some difference between “what they’ve done this year” and “who they really are.” Six of the eight position players Lincecum faced have career batting averages of at least .247. Seth Smith and Chase Headley have both hit Lincecum hard in the past, with OPS over .900 in at least 40 ABs.

On the other hand … San Diego’s .213 batting average is not just a park effect: They’re hitting .209 on the road, tied for the worst mark in searchable history. And their 2.89 runs per road game would be 4th-worst since 1969.