Adrian Gonzalez: Red Sox's Star 1B Takes Home Worst of the Night Honors

Heading into Sunday's game against the Baltimore Orioles, it looked like Boston Red Sox start first baseman Adrian Gonzalez was finally starting to heat up. After going 0-for-15 in his previous four games, Gonzalez went 6-for-10 on Friday and Saturday.

The positive vibes Gonzalez generated in those two games slowly evaporated during Boston's 17-inning 9-6 loss on Sunday. Batting in the fourth slot in Boston's batting order, Gonzalez went 0-for-8 with eight men left on base and two strikeouts.

His batting average dropped from .284 all the way to .264. 

Yeesh.

The amazing part? It only gets worse once you dig deeper into the box score. As you might expect from a guy batting in the cleanup spot, most of Gonzalez's at-bats were important ones, and he simply failed to deliver.

Let's take a look at them one by one.

Bottom 2nd: Gonzalez led off and struck out swinging.

Bottom 4th: Gonzalez ground into an inning-ending double-play with one out after the Sox had scored a run to cut Baltimore's lead to 5-1.

Bottom 5th: Gonzalez came up with two runners on and two outs shortly after Will Middlebrooks had hit a grand slam to tie the game at 5-5. He flied out to left field.

Bottom 7th: With the game still tied at 5-5, Gonzalez came up with runners on first and second with two out. He grounded out to short.

Bottom 10th: Gonzalez came up second in the inning with nobody on and one out, and he grounded out to second.

Bottom 12th: Gonzalez came up with a runner on first with two outs, and he popped out to right center.

Bottom 15th: Gonzalez led off and grounded out to short.

Bottom 17th: With the Sox down three runs, Gonzalez came up with two on and nobody out. He was facing Chris Davis, who had been at first base earlier in the game. He struck out swinging.

In the end, Gonzalez made history. ESPN Stats & Info came through with the intel:

"

Adrian Gonzalez: 1st AL cleanup hitter to go 0-8 in game since Andre Thornton, 1984 Indians.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 6, 2012"

Striking out against Davis in the 17th was the ultimate embarrassment, and that one at-bat pretty much sums up the day Gonzalez had at Fenway Park yesterday. He could have redeemed himself by taking Davis deep to tie the game, but he whiffed. 

Keep in mind that we're talking about a guy who hit .338 last year. One of the best hitters in baseball was beaten by a B-list first baseman who was on the mound due to a lack of better options.

Did Gonzalez single-handedly cost the Red Sox a win on Sunday? No. That would be a highly unfair thing to say.

It was definitely a game he'd like to forget, though. To that end, I wish him luck.

The rest of us should have little trouble remembering Gonzalez's stinker, for I am commemorating it with a "Worst of the Night" award.

If you ever want to nominate someone for "Worst of the Night" honors, hit me up on Twitter.