picked up shutouts in his next two starts, holding Milwaukee and Detroit to a total of five singles in the two games. The latter of the two was his third and final two-hit game. Beginning with the shutouts, Wood won his next six decisions, putting him one win away from a .500 winning percentage before he lost three games in a row from August 8 through 16. For the remainder of the year, he was 4–4 with a 4.39 ERA. In his final start of the year on September 25, he held the Athletics to five hits and two unearned runs in a complete game, 8–2 victory. Wolf wrote that he was "gradually losing some effectiveness" but "had moments of baffling dominance." He had a losing record for the first time since 1970, leading the AL with 20 losses while only winning 16 games. He failed to reach 300 innings pitched for the first time since 1970 (, fifth in the AL) but led the league in starts (43) for the fourth and final year in a row. His ERA was 4.11, and he struck out 140. Injury, later years (1976–78) Wood started consecutive games for the White Sox in 1976, pitching in their ninth game on April 23 and their 10th game five days later, though he lost both of them. His 1976 campaign was cut short on May 9 when a line-drive single hit by Ron LeFlore fractured his left kneecap in the sixth inning of a 4–2 White Sox victory over Detroit at Tiger Stadium. He had surgery the next day and was out for the rest of the season. In seven starts, he had posted a 4–3 record, a 2.24 ERA, 31 strikeouts, 11 walks, and 51 hits allowed in innings pitched. In a 2019 interview, Wood described his recovery. "Originally, the kneecap was wired together to hold it in place. I didn’t have a cast. The doctors felt this way it would heal quicker, and maybe I could be out there in September. That September, I was working out at home trying to get ready to come back when I slipped on the grass and the kneecap went out again. This time, they had to put some pins in it to hold it together and I had a cast on, so I was done for the season." Because his contract ran through 1977, he had