New York, NY -- (Sports Network) - For the second straight year, San Francisco Giants right-hander Tim Lincecum has been named National League's Cy Young Award winner by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Lincecum placed first on 11 of the 32 ballots cast by two writers from each NL city to finish just six points ahead of St. Louis' Chris Carpenter, making him the first repeat winner since Arizona's Randy Johnson won four straight from 1999-2002.

The six-point margin was tied for the third closest election in the NL since the ballot expanded from one to three candidates in 1970.

Lincecum, who is the first starter to capture the award with less than 16 wins in a full season, finished second on 12 ballots and third on nine others, as he received 100 points based on the 5-3-1 tabulation system.

St. Louis' Adam Wainwright actually received the most first-place votes, nabbing 12, but finished third with 90 points. The 10-point differential among the top-three finishers was the second closest in NL voting.

The only other time a pitcher won the Cy Young Award without receiving the most first-place votes was in 1998 when the Atlanta Braves' Tom Glavine had 11 to San Diego Padres reliever Trevor Hoffman's 13 but out-pointed him overall, 98-88.

The 25-year-old Lincecum had another terrific season, as he went 15-7 with a 2.48 earned run average and an NL-high 261 strikeouts in 225 1/3 innings. Lincecum pitched to a 1.05 WHIP while opponents hit just .206 against him.

He also tied for the league lead with four complete games and two shutouts.

Last season Lincecum became just the second hurler in Giants history to win the award and the first since lefty Mike McCormick in 1967.

"It just comes back to being a student of the game and never settling," said Lincecum. "A lot of guys can just sit on things that they did. I could have easily sat on what I did last year and just try to bounce off it. I just wanted to become better."

While Lincecum had a superb season, most people felt this would be a two-horse race between Carpenter and Wainwright. Carpenter, who won this award in 2005, ended up with nine first-place votes, 14 seconds and seven thirds, while Wainwright received five second-place votes and placed third on 15 other ballots.

Carpenter, who made just four starts combined in 2007 and 2008, went 17-4 with an NL-best 2.24 ERA over 28 starts in 2009 to re-establish himself as a Cy Young Award candidate. The 34-year-old recorded three complete games and one shutout while helping St. Louis capture the NL Central title for the first time since 2006.

Over 192 2/3 innings pitched this season, Carpenter allowed just 156 hits and 38 walks while striking out 144 batters.

During the months of July and August, Carpenter went 9-0 with a 2.00 ERA. He dominated divisional opponents in 15 starts, going 11-0 with a 1.58 ERA.

Wainwright, meanwhile, led the National League with 19 wins while pitching to a 2.63 ERA. The Cards won 23 of Wainwright's 34 starts -- in 26 of which he allowed two runs or fewer.

Wainwright also finished the season strong, winning seven of his final eight decisions. He also surrendered three earned runs or less in all but one his starts from June 26 on.

Atlanta's Javier Vazquez received a second place vote and Arizona's Dan Haren picked up a third-place vote to round out the voting.