It was a startling sight.

Adrian Gonzalez has developed a reputation for being as even-tempered in manner as he is consistent as a hitter. And so the image of the slugger swatting his bat and knocking it to the ground in utter frustration bordered on shocking.

The moment came after Gonzalez struck out with the bases loaded in a three-run game to end a Red Sox rally in the seventh inning Wednesday night. Reliever Ryan Cook got him to foul tip an 81 mph slider into the mitt of Kurt Suzuki. But it would only get worse for Gonzalez on this night.

The final straw came two innings later. Gonzalez came to the plate just after Dustin Pedroia laced a double off the Green Monster to score Mike Aviles. The Red Sox were down just two and Gonzalez represented the tying run. He could only manage a meager grounder to third against lefty closer Brian Fuentes for the game’s final out.

After going 0-for-4 with a walk Wednesday night and leaving four men on base -- including three in scoring position -- Gonzalez took full responsibility after a 4-2 loss to the A's that dropped the Red Sox to 11-13 on the season.

"This game was all on me," said Gonzalez, who is now hitless in his last 17 at-bats, the longest such drought he has endured as a member of the Red Sox. "I had two great opportunities and I didn't come through. It's one of those things that I'll make a definite point to not let that happen again."

While fans will complain that Gonzalez did not come through in the clutch, he came into Wednesday’s action hitting .333 with two outs and runners in scoring position. He was 0-for-2 in that situation Wednesday, dropping him to 3-for-11 on the season.

But his teammate on base for the final out wouldn’t allow Gonzalez to fall on the sword.

“Nah, it’s not on him,” Pedroia said. “There’s a lot more opportunities than Adrian’s last couple of at-bats. He takes responsibility. We appreciate that but there are things I could’ve done differently to impact the game that I didn’t do. There are a lot of guys [responsible]. That’s the reason we lost.”

Fans were unhappy and unsatisfied, something that Gonzalez and batting coach Dave Magadan actually acknowledged before the game.

"We were actually talking a little bit before the game and a little bit during the game about whether it looks that way to the average fan out there,” Magadan said. “I felt like he was in a little better position today. He's been trying a lot of different things as far as tapping, spreading out, putting his feet closer together, putting his hands in a different spot. And I think today in early [batting practice], regular BP and even in the game, he was putting himself in a little better position to drive the ball.”

After the game, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said he thought Gonzalez looked "tired" at the plate after playing in all 24 games so far for the Red Sox.

"I think he's just tired,” Valentine said. “He's played the entire time and his timing and recognition of the strike zone is just a little bit off. He'll be fine."

Gonzalez disputed that fatigue has anything to do with his failures at the plate in the last four games.

"Not at all, not at all," Gonzalez said. "I feel great. It's one of those things that it was two at-bats I should've come through at least one of those times and I wasn't able to. I feel great physically. I'm not tired at all. I just didn't come through. It won't happen again."

Gonzalez was hitting .301 just last Friday. Since then, his average has dropped 51 points, standing at exactly .250 (23-for-92) after Wednesday with a .327 OBP, .370 slugging mark and .697 OPS.

Magadan made it clear he was siding with Gonzalez, and not the manager, on what is and is not bothering the slugger.

"No, no, he doesn't feel any fatigue,” Magadan said. “Usually, when a guy is fatigued, he'll cut down on his [batting practice] swings, he'll take a day off from batting practice and stuff like that. But today, he took a ton of swings, he was driving the ball in batting practice like he hadn't in a week and a half, he was hitting some balls over the Monster.

“So now that he feels a little more comfortable with his approach and with what he's doing mechanically to get ready to hit the ball, now he's got to get the timing of the game situation. Once he does that, he's going to be fine."

What does his hitting coach and one of the most respected batting gurus in the game see?

“His timing was a little bit off, he was a little late on some fastballs, a little early on some breaking balls but to me, he's on the right path,” Magadan added. “He's just got to continue to work, which he's going to do. We're 24 games into the season and he's trying to get that comfort level to a point where now he can start concentrating on the pitch and start getting pitches he can drive."

As was the case in the seventh and ninth innings, it is the timing -- usually so precise -- that has been frustrating to Gonzalez in this 0-for-17 skid.

"I'm just a click off in the timing department, just a little late on fastballs, a little early on offspeed pitches. It happens but we have a big series coming up with Baltimore,” he said. “I'll be sure to be right then."

There is reason to believe such a claim. After all, in early 2011, Gonzalez went through a similar struggle. Through 22 games, Gonzalez was hitting .281 with a .354 OBP, .416 slugging mark and .769 OPS. That led him to acknowledge in a self-critical moment (during a series against the Orioles) that he was “searching” for his mechanics. Following that declaration, he went on a relentless tear that saw him hit .377/.434/.648/1.083 with 16 games over the remaining 67 games of the first half.

In other words, Gonzalez has shown an ability to take his deepest slumps, diagnose them and turn them quickly into distant memories. In all likelihood, that will occur in 2012.

And Gonzalez is mindful of that probability based on his career track record. While this skid is the longest of his Red Sox tenure (having gone 0-for-14 twice in 2011), he has had struggles before in his career, and it’s those struggles that give him perspective now.

"Every year is different,” Gonzalez said. “I'm a guy that goes off of feel, and what I feel now. I can't go back and try to gain the feeling I had two, three, four years ago. I've gone through a lot worse than what I'm going through now. This is four games. At the end of the day, I'm always going to have the right approach, I'm always going to be prepared and I'm always going to be looking for a pitch I want to drive. I haven't been able to do it the last four days but it will change come Friday."

Pedroia was asked if he’s concerned that Gonzalez could possibly go another 17 at-bats without a hit.

“Who, Adrian? No, I don’t. With a swing like that, he’ll be fine,” Pedroia insisted. “He’s the last guy I’m worried about. Obviously, when you’re hitting in the middle of the order and getting guys on base, it’s more glaring to you guys [when you don’t produce]. But as teammates, we see a perfect swing and it’s only a matter of time.

“Bloop hit or whatever it is, it locks you in for the rest of the year. He’ll be fine.”