It was all new for Adrian Gonzalez, but you wouldn't know it by looking at him.

Sure, he had claimed a walk-off hit before, the same kind the first baseman came away with Monday night thanks to his ninth-inning, two-run double off the left field wall. Gonzalez had done it four other times, to be exact.

But this was the Red Sox. This was Fenway Park. This was the do-or-die pressure that takes on a different persona when presented in the package that is Boston baseball.

But the image portrayed by Gonzalez when smoothly launching a Kevin Gregg, first-pitch slider far enough to hand the Red Sox an 8-7 win over the Orioles was hard to separate from his previous 183 plate appearances this season. (For a game recap, click here.)

Calm. Calculated. Purposeful.

It spawned a question.

"Has anything surprised you about playing here?" Gonzalez was asked.

The answer was swift and somewhat predictable. "No," he responded.

Fair enough. Then how is it that Gonzalez emanates the same calm as somebody whose last walk-off was in front of just 25,167 laid-back San Diego fans (as was the case on June 18, 2010)?

"The way I am is I work hard in preparation, and then the rest is up to God," Gonzalez explained. "God doesn't care if I get a hit or strike out. He just cares my attitude is right and my focus is in the right place with him. For me, it's have fun, enjoy the moment every time. If I strike out, put my helmet down, put my bat down and go to the next at-bat."

Gonzalez then pauses the conversation and starts looking for a better way to explain his approach. He's looking for a baseball bat. The Sox' No. 3 hitter can't find one of his own, but does discover a reasonable replacement, the same model as his own but made by a different company as the 'Trinity' brand he uses.

He points to the spot on bat, just underneath the player's name, that reads 'C271L,' the variation of bat that identifies what the hitter is working with.

"On mine," Gonzalez said, "it says 'PS 27:1.' Psalm 27:1. That's my favorite Bible verse. For me it's like, I have nothing to fear. I have nothing to be afraid of. Let God do his work and enjoy the moment and have fun with it."

The verse reads thusly: "The Lord [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord [is] the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

Gonzalez became a born-again Christian eight years ago, and it has been four years since he first started having the Trinity Bat Company engrave the verse on his bats. It is what the slugger knows. It guided him in the ninth inning Monday night, and it has guided him in each of the new experiences thrown his way as a new member of the Red Sox.

It was why the frenetic Fenway atmosphere that can alter so many players' approaches wasn't going to put a dent in Gonzalez' at-bat against Gregg.

"Whenever you're in a tough moment, you look at that bat and realize it's not about the moment, it's about God," he said. "It takes all the pressure away from it."

The hit was the latest in what has become a string of unforgettable impression left by Gonzalez. He has played in every game this season. Nobody in the American League has more RBI. Since May 3, Gonzalez has hit .364 with a 1.265 OPS, eight homers and 19 RBI. 

"It's been impressive," said one of the night's other heroes, Jed Lowrie. "He makes it look easy."

Now we have an idea why.

"I look at that bat all the time," Gonzalez said.