One week seems like the distant past for Adrian Gonzalez.

Last Tuesday, the Red Sox first baseman expressed dissatisfaction with his approach at the plate. He acknowledged that he was “searching” for his mechanics, after a period in which he was pulling off the ball rather than using his signature stroke to the opposite field.

In seven subsequent games, things have taken a dramatic turn for Gonzalez. He has hits in each of those games, including multiple hits in four contests, and on Tuesday night, he launched his first Fenway Park home run while going 2-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in to help lead the Sox past Dan Haren and the Angels, 7-3. (Recap.)

Since his admission that he was not comfortable at the plate, Gonzalez has turned things around in a hurry. He is hitting .429 (12-for-28) with a .448 OBP, .679 slugging mark and 1.127 OPS and eight runs batted in during his last seven games. He is going up to the plate with a game plan and, frequently, executing it.

Take Tuesday night. Through five innings, Haren had mowed through the Sox lineup mercilessly. But Jacoby Ellsbury’s one-out double in the sixth gave the Sox a rare scoring opportunity (their second runner in scoring position of the game), and with two outs, Gonzalez had the opportunity to deliver.

Gonzalez had been frozen by a 92 mph fastball for a called strike three in his first at-bat, then grounded out on a 1-2 cutter in his second plate appearance. He stepped to the plate resolved not to get in a count that would put him at the mercy of the pitcher.

“Seeing him a couple of times, we made an adjustment, started being more aggressive in the strike zone,” Gonzalez said. “He's been moving the ball in and out, so just stay on anything. He's got a really good split. I just think you stay on any pitch and make sure you stay through the zone and don't roll over a two-seamer or a split.”

He got a first-pitch splitter and stayed on it with a textbook swing that sent a rocket to left field. The ball was hit so hard that there was some question as to whether Ellsbury could score from second, though the Sox leadoff hitter was able to beat the throw to the plate to tie the score at 1.

The RBI further solidified Gonzalez’ standing as a middle-of-the-order producer for the Sox in the early going this year. While the team’s struggles with runners in scoring position have been well-documented, Gonzalez — who would eventually come around that inning to score the go-ahead run — has been an important exception to those issues.

He is hitting .382 with runners on second and/or third this year with a .432 OBP and .500 slugging mark. On that count, he has come as advertised.

Yet the first baseman has fallen short of the expectations that he would emerge as a power hitter in the middle of the order. A man for whom 40 homers seemed a reasonable goal was instead stuck on one through the first 28 games of the season.

“Any concern? I mean, I knew I'd hit one more before the season ended,” he joked.

Home run number two came last night, in Gonzalez’ fourth plate appearance against Haren. And again, he went to the plate with a game plan that he enacted flawlessly.

His previous hit had come on the splitter away. On a 1-0 count, Gonzalez anticipated that Haren would try to fire a fastball past him on the inner half of the plate. Indeed, some talent evaluators have suggested that fastballs low and in represent kryptonite for the first baseman, who acknowledges that he typically looks for a pitch up and out over the plate to drive to the opposite field.

But in this instance, Gonzalez was looking in, anticipating where Haren would try to beat him. He got an 89 mph fastball on the inside corner at the knees and he arced a majestic shot into the back of the visitor's bullpen for his first homer at Fenway.

“He was pounding the inside part of the plate to our lefties, then running that fastball back,” Gonzalez said. “You take a calculated guess, and he happened to throw it in that spot.”

The blast was Gonzalez’ first since he hit one in the first week of the season at Cleveland. It ended a stretch of 96 at-bats without a homer, the second longest such drought in his career. He paused at home plate to follow the ball’s trajectory as it soared through the Boston night.

“I wasn't able to savor the first one because we lost in Cleveland,” Gonzalez said. “Today I was able to enjoy it.”

That Gonzalez should take satisfaction in the launch was natural. After all, one week after professing his absence of comfort at the plate, he looks like a slugger who is ready to do some damage on a consistent basis. Since he voiced his displeasure with his swing in Baltimore, he has improved his average to .316 with an .854 OPS.

“Since that day in [Baltimore], I've been focusing on staying through the zone more and hitting balls away, reacting in,” Gonzalez said. “It's moving in the right direction.”

On the one hand, the stretch has presented one of the first opportunities since his arrival with the Red Sox to appreciate Gonzalez’ talents, and to comprehend both the sophistication of his plate approach and his ability to execute it.

“I think the best part about it, he doesn’t try to do too much. If they pitch him away, he’ll hit it away. If they pitch him in, he’ll pull it,” Jed Lowrie said. “He’s just a true hitter. A pure hitter.”

On the other hand, however, the Sox seemed to dismiss the idea that what Gonzalez has done of late represents a significant development. It has been a solid run, particularly against the backdrop of his self-professed struggles of one week ago.

But the stretch has not been outlandish. Gonzalez has been a hitter capable of production for a long time. And so, the Sox said, there was little reason to get starry-eyed about his current stretch.

“He’s been doing it for the last six, seven years,” Marco Scutaro said with a smirk. “I’m not impressed at all.”

And if results such as those produced by Gonzalez in recent games are to be the norm, that, in many ways, is the most impressive element of all.