SAN FRANCISCO — The next time Tim Lincecum steps on a major league mound, he very well could be pumping the first pitch in the All-Star Game.

The San Diego Padres are poor substitutes for the most perilous sluggers in the American League. But Lincecum worked over his sparring partners Thursday night, nearly turning an ordinary July night into something magical while leading the Giants to a 9-3 victory at AT&T Park.
Even before the skies darkened, the crowd whooped and cheered for each strike as if it were a note in a magnum opus. And it nearly was.
At the conclusion of six innings, Lincecum had authored two-thirds of a no-hitter and he owned a streak of 29 scoreless innings, the third longest by a San Francisco Giant.
But the string snapped when Tony Gwynn Jr. led off the seventh inning with a flared single to left field, breaking up the longest no-hit bid of Lincecum’s short career. Two batters later, Kevin Kouzmanoff’s blooper scored Gwynn from second base — the first run off Lincecum since June 23 at Oakland, when Jason Giambi hit a solo home run in the second inning.
Only Gaylord Perry owned a longer scoreless streak in Giants history. The Hall of Fame pitcher threw 40 consecutive scoreless innings in 1967 and he had a 39-inning streak in 1970.
Lincecum (10-2) joined teammate Matt Cain as one of three N.L. pitchers with double-digit victories. Colorado’s Jason Marquis leads the league with 11.
But Lincecum spat a few angry words into his glove as he walked off the mound in the seventh. He left the bases loaded for Sergio Romo and the right-hander walked in a run before getting a tapper to the mound.
The Giants backed Lincecum with the long ball. Bengie Molina hit a two-run home run in the first inning, giving him 50 RBIs this season. Travis Ishikawa and Juan Uribe became the first Giants to go back-to-back this season when they hit solo shots in the fifth.
And after the Padres made it a 6-3 game in the seventh, the Giants rallied back with three more in the eighth. It spared the crowd any late-inning jitters from closer Brian Wilson.
Pablo Sandoval might be the Giants’ biggest All-Star snub, but Molina has a case, too. He leads all N.L. catchers with 11 home runs and 50 RBIs; no full-time N.L. catcher is within 15 RBIs of him.
Molina also contributed behind the plate, helping Lincecum find a rhythm after leading off the game with a five-pitch walk to Everth Cabrera.
In an instant, Lincecum found his lethal timing. He threw a fastball, curve and change-up while dusting off Gwynn, then erased Cabrera when Adrian Gonzalez lined softly into a double play.
Even in the early innings, the crowd reacted to each out as if it expected something amazing to unfold. The fans came to their feet in the second inning when Lincecum struck out former Giant Eliezer Alfonzo following a two-out walk to Will Venable.
The cheers built into a full-fledged crescendo when Lincecum struck out the side in the sixth inning.
He needed nine outs against the most feeble lineup in the National League. And the Padres didn’t have card-carrying Giants slayer Scott Hairston, who was traded to the A’s earlier this week.
Lincecum couldn’t register the Giants’ first no-hitter since John Montefusco in 1976 — eight years before he was born. But he did manage to eclipse current Padres Manager Bud Black, whose 26-inning scoreless streak in 1991 had ranked third in the club’s San Francisco history.
It made sense that Gwynn would break up the no-hitter. His father was responsible for busting up five no-hit bids in the seventh inning or later.