season down to 0.57 (1 earned run in 15.2 innings). Though the Indians still lost the game, it convinced Boudreau to try Gromek as a starter. On May 21, Gromek made his first start of the season in the second game of a doubleheader with the A's. Through the first six innings, Gromek held the A's scoreless on four hits. Meanwhile, back-to-back home runs by Roy Cullenbine and Pat Seerey in the fourth inning gave Cleveland a 2–0 lead. A seventh-inning error by third baseman Ken Keltner allowed two unearned runs to tie the score, and a wild pitch the following inning allowed the winning run to score. On July 2, after spending June as a reliever, Gromek earned his first win of the season against the Washington Senators after being placed back in the starting rotation, and did not allow a hit until the eighth inning in a 6–3 win; he remained a starter for the rest of the season. On July 14 against the St. Louis Browns, Gromek pitched 14 innings to earn the complete game 3–2 victory over Bob Muncrief, who also pitched all 14 innings for St. Louis. He followed that up with a complete game shutout against the New York Yankees, and 1–0 loss in which Gromek allowed two hits against the Boston Red Sox. He ended the season winning six of his final seven decisions, finishing the year with a 10–9 record with a 2.56 ERA, and had a league leading 7.1 hits per nine innings. Entering the 1945 season, Gromek was named one of the Indians' main starting pitchers, and would hold that title throughout the season. On June 8, Gromek defeated the Browns, 2–1, to improve to 7–1 with a 1.62 ERA. On July 4, the Indians accomplished one of the more bizarre firsts in baseball history with Gromek on the mound. In a complete game victory over the Yankees, Gromek struck out four. Fifteen outs came via fly balls to the outfield; another four pop-ups were handled by the infielders. Catcher Frankie Hayes caught two foul balls, and the only ground ball outs recorded were handled by first baseman Mickey Rocco unassisted. It was the only time in major league history that a team went nine innings without recording an assist. A week later, Gromek was named to the All-Star team for the 1945 All-Star Game, which was cancelled due to