DETROIT -- Jake Odorizzi pitched the Twins to the doorstep of their first American League Central title since 2010. In doing so, he showed off his dominant recent form that could go a long way to anchor an inconsistent starting rotation in the postseason.

The only blemishes on the right-hander’s night came at the very beginning and end of an otherwise brilliant outing, when he allowed one run in the first inning before he was suddenly removed before the seventh inning with cramping in his left hamstring. Between, he was unhittable -- literally -- in the middle innings as he pitched the Twins to a 4-2 win over the Tigers on Tuesday night at Comerica Park.

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Odorizzi finally got some late run support in the seventh inning with a two-run single by Willians Astudillo and a two-run double from Eddie Rosario that moved the Twins’ magic number to clinch the division to two.

“We're not worried about what anybody else is going to do, and we're just worrying about what we need to do,” Odorizzi said. “We're very capable of winning three games. Now, it's down to two. Win two more, and who cares about what Cleveland does? We can control our own destiny."

Minnesota can clinch the division on Wednesday with a win and a Cleveland loss.

Odorizzi allowed a one-out double to Dawel Lugo, a bunt single to Harold Castro and a sacrifice fly to Jeimer Candelario in the first inning. Beyond that, the Tigers’ offense could only muster a fourth-inning walk by Candelario against the All-Star right-hander, who finished his outing with five hitless innings and retired 17 of his last 18 batters.

Relying heavily on his four-seam fastball as he typically does, Odorizzi generated 19 swinging strikes, falling two short of his season high, as he struck out seven batters and walked one. Over his past five starts, Odorizzi has accumulated 41 strikeouts in 28 innings, averaging slightly more than 16 whiffs per start.

“Nothing's really changed,” Odorizzi said. “The execution is just a little bit better. I'm reading some swings a little bit better, and I just keep attacking. I think during the middle part of the year, I might have gotten away from attacking and trying to be a little too fine. Now, it's just turned into, 'Here it is. Here we go.' I have a lot of confidence in my stuff.”

José Berríos appears to have emerged from the struggles of a difficult August, but the results again eluded the young right-hander in his last start against the Royals. Kyle Gibson and Martín Pérez had posted September ERAs of 11.05 and 7.00, respectively, entering Tuesday night.

That makes Odorizzi’s recent stability particularly significant for the Twins, now more than ever, with the postseason a little more than a week away.

“I wish he could have maybe even kept pitching longer,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Maybe under different circumstances, he would have been able to keep going. The stuff was good, the execution was good, he put the ball exactly where he wanted it. Physically, he’s going to be fine going forward.”

There was a level of concern on Baldelli’s part when Odorizzi walked around on the mound, flexing his right arm, after taking his warmup pitches leading into the seventh inning. Baldelli was worried Odorizzi might have been dealing with a potential arm issue, but the right-hander said he was just loosening up after sitting through the Twins’ lengthy four-run rally in the dugout.

But Odorizzi had also been experiencing some cramping in his hamstring, and he was removed as a precaution. Neither he nor Baldelli was overly concerned about his health after the game.

With only five games remaining in the regular season, Odorizzi doesn’t feel the need to make one more start to stay on schedule if it’s not necessary. He feels good about where his arm is at, and the Twins could also be in a good place if he can carry this recent performance into an early game of a possible Division Series.

“Obviously, I felt really good tonight and was just shortened by a weird thing,” Odorizzi said. “I'm ready to go however many starts they need me to go throughout the rest of the season and in the postseason.”