Against the Padres on September 8, Lincecum missed his first regularly scheduled start in his major league career, due to back spasms. Lincecum finished the 2009 season with a 15–7 record, 2.48 ERA and 261 strikeouts. Following the season, Lincecum was named the "Sporting News" NL Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive year. On November 19, Lincecum was awarded his second consecutive Cy Young Award, narrowly edging out St. Louis Cardinals pitchers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. In doing so, he became the first pitcher in MLB history to be awarded the Cy Young in each of his first two full seasons. He finished 18th in NL MVP voting.