Reds on July 3. This rebound was short-lived, however; Chicago lost his next four starts before a 6–5 win over the Boston Braves on July 27. He pitched in 40 games, half of which were in relief, and had a 10–14 win–loss record. His ERA increased to 3.66, and he led the NL in hit batsmen with 13. 1914–1916 seasons His initial appearance of the 1914 season was in relief on April 17, a game in which he pitched 4 innings, and gave up three runs in 6–5 victory over the Reds. He followed that with two consecutive strong games as the starting pitcher, allowing just one unearned run in each game; the second was a complete game against the Reds. On June 12, he started the game against New York, only to be injured in the third inning when he was hit in the hand by a ball batted by Fred Merkel, and had to leave the game. The injury did not cause Lavender to lose much playing time. He pitched a four-inning relief appearance on June 19, followed by a complete-game shutout on June 27 against the Reds. On August 17, he pitched a second shutout during the season, a 3-0 victory over the Brooklyn Robins. Lavender created a controversy in a game on September 23, when he was caught altering the baseball by rubbing it against an emery board that he had attached to his uniform's pant leg, an illegal act. At the time, the fine for such an infraction was a five-dollar fine. The Phillies players noticed that the pitcher was constantly scratching the side of his leg. They asked the umpire to search the pitcher. Lavender refused to be searched and ran into the outfield, and the umpire refused to chase Lavender. Eventually, a particularly fast Phillies player, Hans Lobert, was able to catch up with him and grab the offending item. As a result of this incident, AL president, Ban Johnson, decreed that any pitcher in his league caught using sandpaper to alter the baseball, would be suspended for 30 days and fined $100. This rule became the forebearer of the rule banning other pitches as well, including the spitball. In his 37 games pitched in 1914, 28 were as the starting pitcher. His win–loss record was 11–11, and he lowered his ERA down to 3.07 in 214 innings pitched. Lavender got off to