An afternoon to forget in the West Midlands as the Blues produced some clinical finishing to take advantage of Crewe mistakes in possession.
The Blues opened the scoring from the penalty spot after a foul in the area early in the contest - the taker sending goalkeeper Sam Booth the wrong way.
That proved the only goal in a hotly contested first half, with Crewe giving as much as they were taking.
But the hosts took complete control after the break - with a lot of it of the Alex's own making.
Three of the four second half strikes came from Crewe being caught in possession in their own defensive third, but all four were brilliantly struck to leave Booth with no chance. Three ripping into the top corner from the edge of the box, with the final goal of the game finding the bottom corner.
One to learn from for Lee Bell's side heading in to a meeting with Sheffield Wednesday at Reaseheath this weekend.
Crewe: Booth, Allen (Southern), Goodrich, Hartshorn, Fenton, Wrench (Heath), Djallo (Linton), Robbins, Woodthorpe, Priestman, Onyeka