BOSTON » Carl Crawford has struggled all season against left-handers. And when it comes to driving in runs, he’s been much better on the road.

With one pitch Friday night, that all changed.

Crawford blooped a go-ahead, two-run single to center field in the seventh inning off Brian Fuentes and the Boston Red Sox ended a four-game losing streak with an 8-6 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

"You’ve got the bases loaded with two outs" and a full count, Crawford said. "You know he can’t really play around too much right there. You know at some point he has to throw you a pitch where you can hit."

It actually was a tough pitch to hit — inside and close to Crawford’s hands. Still, he managed to send it just beyond second base to give Boston a 7-6 lead.

"We had a chance to bring Brian in against a lefty that’s been hitting about .100 against lefties," Oakland manager Bob Geren said. "It’s unfortunate. He made a good pitch."

Before his hit, Crawford was batting just .103 (7-for-68) against lefties this season. Of his 21 RBIs before Friday, only six were at Fenway Park, although two came from walkoff hits.

"He worked the count really well," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "

Joey Devine (0-1) had loaded the bases in the inning when he allowed a double by Adrian Gonzalez, hit Kevin Youkilis and walked David Ortiz. After retiring Jed Lowrie on a fly ball, Devine was replaced by Fuentes.

"In the sixth with our bullpen with the lead, I like our chances," Geren said. "We have a good bullpen."

Boston had rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the first and trailed 6-5 when Crawford, who has nine RBIs in his past nine games, delivered.

"I was just hoping it got through," Crawford said. "When I saw that, I was feeling a lot better, just watched it all the way until it dropped."