ARLINGTON, Texas -- It might have been a revelation for Red Sox followers, but the Carl Crawford of Wednesday night was nothing new to Tim Bogar.

While working in the Tampa Bay organization throughout the 2008 season, the Red Sox third base coach watched Crawford create an impact on his team's lineup like few could. Despite missing a chunk of the year due to injury, Crawford altered the dynamic of the Rays' lineup many more times than not.

It was exactly what the outfielder's presence in the Red Sox' 13-2 win over the Rangers demonstrated once again.

"When he's playing like Carl Crawford," Bogar said, "it makes everybody better."

Against the Rangers, the Red Sox' left fielder played like Carl Crawford, and everybody in the Sox lineup appeared better because of it.

He had two hits, he drove in five runs and hit his second home run in the last four games. And, most importantly, he made it be known that he was going to have a say in the game's outcome.

"What you saw tonight, the last couple of nights actually, that's Carl," Bogar said. "That's what he's capable of doing every night. Base hit, steal second on the first pitch, and then they don't know what's going on. And when you have two guys like that with Carl and [Jacoby] Ellsbury, it's a double-whammy. And they're in completely different spots in the lineup too, so that helps.

"I'm not surprised when it happens because I saw it so much over (in Tampa Bay). Hopefully it will happen more often."

As Bogar points out, it's not hard to figure out what a difference-maker Crawford can be. 

Much has been made of how the Red Sox have built the best offense in the majors with hardly any contributions from their $142 million outfielder, and they can survive despite -- not because -- of Crawford. But this time of year teams are looking for something to separate themselves, and, for the Sox, he might just do the trick.

When Crawford has scored at least one run this season, the Red Sox are 30-9. And when he has notched at least one hit the Sox have gone 45-20. It was the same story in '10, when the Rays went 64-19 when he crossed the plate at least once, and 71-35 after Crawford came away with one hit or more.

The problem is that Wednesday was only the 49th game Crawford has scored a run. Last season he scored a run in 49 games by July 8. This undoubtedly has been a different year, a different player, and he knows it.

"Just trying to finish the season out strong pretty much. Just trying to do something," he said after tying his career-high for RBI. "I’ll still be disappointed in my personal performance. But if we win a World Series, I won’t feel bad about that."

And as hard as it may be for some to see, Crawford could have a big role in getting the Red Sox to where they want to go.

This has been a road trip where the outfielder's bat has come alive a bit. He has come away with at least one hit on each of the swing's first seven games, having totaled a .346 batting average with a 1.021 OPS during the week-long span.

Carl Crawford, it would seem, is close to re-discovering Carl Crawford.

"When people realize what Carl Crawford is about and he relaxes and he starts playing like he's supposed to every day, then you'll realize what Carl Crawford is all about," Bogar said. "Nobody has really seen him play well yet."

But now they are, and the difference -- for both player and team -- is noticeable.

The batting stance -- which he developed early in his professional career in order to get a better look at the pitcher, and had come under so much scrutiny during his struggles this season -- is finally coming together. Line-drives are flying off his bat.

"I’m just trying to hit the ball hard," he said.

And since you are ...

"Yeah, it does feel good to do that," Crawford added. "I’m just trying to get a good pitch and hopefully do something with it."

And it wasn't just Wednesday night, as Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan noted on the Mut and Merloni Show earlier in the day.

"I think he is starting to get more comfortable at the plate," Magadan said. "I know watching him throughout the year he’s had a lot of swings where he’s very late and he’s kind of using his upper body to flick the ball the other way and flick the ball on the ground. It doesn’t matter who you are, you’ve got to be on time and you’ve got to be in a position where you can get your legs into your swing a little bit.

"I think what we’ve seen since Kansas City, I know he’s not lighting the world on fire, but he’s really starting to drive the ball, especially from the pull side. He hit the home run in Kansas City, he’s gotten a couple hits here in Texas to the pull side. He’s really hit some balls hard that have gotten caught. So I’ve seen some positive signs and he feels really good about what he’s doing and he’s really positive about it and he’s showing a little more confidence. … We’re going to see him start to break out of it, and I think we’re starting to see that over the last four or five games."

The reality is that Crawford still has time to make an impression, and the past week was a good place to start.

"Everybody is all worried, but he hasn't even scratched the surface," Bogar said. "When you have a really good Carl Crawford, then watch what this team hit."