By Henry Schulman

Anyone who understands the Giants in the last decade and a half knows the five starting pitchers must be the ones to take charge and lead them out of the darkness of the past two weeks and back to the promised land.

On a cool, overcast afternoon at AT&T Park on Wednesday, Tim Lincecum commandeered the leader’s baton, marched to the front of his brigade and, for the second time in less than a year, threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres.

In a 4-0 victory that the Giants absolutely needed after the Padres took the series’ first two games, Lincecum became the second Giant to throw two no-hitters. The other was Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson (1901 and 1905).

Lincecum threw the 16th no-no in franchise history, the eighth in the San Francisco era and the third at AT&T Park, following Jonathan Sanchez in 2009 and Matt Cain’s perfect game in 2012.

Lincecum’s no-hitter was the third in the majors this year. Dodgers Josh Beckett and Clayton Kershaw threw the others.

Lincecum did not need 148 pitches, as he did at San Diego in his July 13 gem. He threw 113, walked one, struck out six and looked nothing like a pitcher who carried a 6.85 June ERA to the mound. The walk was Chase Headley in the second inning.

The crowd of 41,500 began a progression of ovations after the sixth inning that grew increasingly louder and longer. They serenaded him to the mound in the ninth, which he began by striking out pinch-hitter Chris Denorfia. Another pinch-hitter, Yasmani Grandal, bounced a ball to the right side that Lincecum grabbed himself, slipping to first for the second out.

The fans were on their feet when Will Venable stepped in, the last Padres hope. On a 1-2 pitch, Venable grounded to Joe Panik, who, in his fifth big-league game, grabbed the final out of the no-hitter and threw to first to set off the celebration.

Unlike the first no-hitter, when Hunter Pence saved it with a diving catch, Lincecum needed no defensive heroics. The Pads made little solid contact, an Alexi Amarista liner to right the hardest-hit ball.

Manager Bruce Bochy revealed before the game that he and pitching coach Dave Righetti met with some starters in the wake of the rotation’s poor performance over the past two weeks. Lincecum apparently took notes.

Lincecum aided his cause by twice singling against Ian Kennedy and scoring, in the third inning on a Pablo Sandoval double off the glove of a diving left fielder Carlos Quentin, in the seventh on Buster Posey’s two-run double off the center-field wall.

When Lincecum threw his no-hitter in San Diego, Posey caught him and lifted him off the ground after the final out. On Wednesday, Posey played first base and lifted Lincecum with four hits.

Lincecum spent a long time on the basepaths after his leadoff single in the seventh. On one hand, he was on his feet when he could have rested. On the other, he had to concentrate on trying to score rather than fighting with his thoughts in the dugout.

The extra activity made no difference in the eighth, when Chase Headley grounded out, Tommy Medica popped out and Amarista flied to center.

Lincecum had to run the bases again in the eighth after a one-out walk by Carlos Torres. This time he was erased quickly on a force.

Linncecum took the mound in the ninth inning with 97 pitches. He could have thrown 50 in the ninth and still not matched his total from the Petco no-no.

There was news before the game, too. As expected, the Giants placed Angel Pagan on the disabled list with a strained lower back, retroactive to June 15, which means he can return as soon as Tuesday if he can tolerate the pain.

To replace Pagan they promoted Triple-A corner infielder Adam Duvall to see if his 23 home runs at Fresno, which led the Pacific Coast League, can translate some in the majors.

Duvall, 25, was the Giants’ 11th-round pick in 2010. Their first-round pick that year, Gary Brown, was bypassed again. PCL numbers often are inflated – it is a hitters’ league, but manager Bruce Bochy said, “I don’t care where you are. That’s a lot of home runs. We saw him in spring training. He’s got easy power. You’re never going to hit as many home runs here as in Triple-A, but he’s got that power.”

Bochy plans to start Duvall occasionally at first base, putting Michael Morse in left field. Defense has been an issue for Duvall. He has 95 errors in 426 minor-legue games.

Nobody in the room has seen him more than second baseman Joe Panik, who rose through the Giants’ system with Duvall and saw the right-handed hitter’s transformation over the past few seasons.

Hitting has become so easy for Duvall, “It’s almost like a video game for him,” Panik said.

“His approach has improved greatly. Just watching him over the past couple of years, everybody knows he can hit the ball more than a mile. Now he’s recognizing breaking pitches and understanding pitches. When he looks for something, he doesn’t miss it.”