Angeles Dodgers for Dick Allen at the Winter Meetings on December 2, 1971. He got along much better with Red Adams, the Dodger pitching coach, who encouraged John to use his soft fastball instead of trying to rely on his breaking pitches. "You'll get plenty of batters out with that," Adams said, praising the movement John put on his fastball. He gave up 13 hits and five runs on July 12 but was allowed to complete the game as the Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies by a score of 9–5. Six days later, he pitched nine innings and only allowed one unearned run but settled for a no-decision, as the Dodgers defeated the New York Mets 2–1 in the 10th inning. On August 3, he gave up only three hits in a complete game, 3–0 shutout victory over the San Francisco Giants. Though John made 29 starts for the Dodgers in 1972, his season ended prematurely on September 23, due to an injury suffered in a game against the Giants. John singled against Frank Reberger in the third, advanced to second on a walk, and attempted to score on a single by Bill Buckner. As he slid into home, though (where he was called out), he jammed his throwing elbow hard into the ground, dislodging bone chips. He pitched more innings before getting taken out of the game, but took the remainder of the year off and had surgery to clear out the elbow. John had an 11–5 record, a 2.89 ERA, 117 strikeouts, 40 walks, and 172 hits allowed in innings. His .688 winning percentage was fifth in the National League (NL). In his first start of 1973 for the Dodgers, on April 8 against the San Diego Padres, John threw scoreless ball for innings, earning the win in a 4–0 victory. On June 18, he allowed eight runs in only one inning as the Dodgers were defeated 16–3 by the Phillies, but only two were earned (the rest were due to a Ron Cey error). He held the Chicago Cubs to five hits on July 13 in a 5–0, complete game shutout victory. On August 24, he had a better start against the Phillies, limiting them to three hits in a 3–0, complete game shutout victory. That game was the first of six straight decisions John would win through the end of the season. With a 16–7 record