The California Angels were leading the AL West by only 4.5 games coming to the end of August. The Angels needed a spark to go into September with some momentum, but it seemed not to be in the cards on this night as the Tigers roughed up starter Kirk McCaskill for five early runs and after Chuck Finley relieved McCaskill the Tigers scored three more runs to put the Angels down 8-1.
The Tigers continued to have their way with Angels pitching scoring four more times and taking a 12-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning.