Which of Tim Lincecum's two no-hitters against the Padres was more dominant?

You could be forgiven if you experienced a strange bout of deja vu while watching Tim Lincecum no-hit the Padres on Wednesday afternoon. After all, it was almost one year ago that Lincecum pitched the first no-hitter of his career against this Padres team (July 13th to be exact), becoming the first pitcher since Addie Joss in 1910 to throw two no-hitters against the same ballclub.

Lincecum is also only the second Giant to throw two no-hitters in his career. The first being a guy you may have heard of: Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson. 

But for all the similiarities between Lincecum's two starts, there were plenty of differences. When Lincecum no-hit the Padres in 2013, he struggled with his command, walking four batters and needing 148 pitches to finish off the game.

This time around, Lincecum was in control from the beginning. The only blemish on his scorecard was a second inning walk to Chase Headley. And while Lincecum needed Hunter Pence to come up with a big catch last year to preserve the no-no:

This year, the closest the Padres got to a hit dropping in was this flare snagged by Michael Morse: 

Personally, I credit the newly re-grown mustache. 

Lincecum did plenty to help his own cause, going 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. The hitting performance led to either a dugout description of his trip on the basepaths or an in-depth discussion of The Flash's power set: 

And because Lincecum's a red-blooded human being, he's been swept up in World Cup Fever. So he quickly changed into his personalized US Men's National Team jersey:

Let's go team USA, we believe!! #OneNationOneTeam #NoHitter thanks for the jersey's before the game! pic.twitter.com/QhWf5gqtXr

- Hunter Pence (@hunterpence) June 25, 2014

And, uhh, a Spanish morion, too. Can't explain that one. 

No-hit swag pic.twitter.com/PQXQ0lFsqZ

- Ahmed Fareed (@AhmedFareedCSN) June 25, 2014

So live it up, Tim Lincecum. Because you're no longer just a mustache-growing, soccer-loving, manager-pretending, two-time Cy Young winner. You're now a mustache-growing, soccer-loving, manager-pretending, two-time Cy Young winning, two-time no-hitter tossing Freak. And that's something to celebrate.