Jul 21, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcherthrows a pitch in the second inning at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

The offense didn’t have much to talk about Monday evening, but the pitching of the Chicago White Sox was pretty spot on, especially Chris Sale as he gained his ninth win of the season in the 3-1 win over the Kansas City Royals.

In the win over the Royals, Sale did allow seven hits, but only one run, proving once again he’s on of the top pitchers in all of baseball.

To prove that point, here are his numbers from the 3-1 win over the Royals on Monday night: 7.0 innings, seven hits, one earned run, on walk and eight strikeouts.

For the season, Sale’s pitching line reads: 9-1 overall in 15 starts, two complete games, 102.0 innings pitched, 17 walks, 110 strikeouts and he’s held opponents to a batting average of .196.

Sale’s WHIP is 0.86 and his ERA on the season is 2.03, with the ERA being the fourth best in all of baseball, and second in the AL only trailing Felix Hernandez who has an ERA of 2.02.

This could be a great Cy Young Award battle for the rest of the regular season, but what will continue to hurt Sale is his lack of starts, as he has just 15 on the season since he’s missed a month of action with his stint on the disabled list earlier this season.

Even ESPN Chicago writes about Sale being a Cy Young Award candidate, with Doug Padilla writing for ESPN Chicago:

“Despite missing a month early in the season with a sore arm, Sale improved to 9-1 with a 2.03 ERA that is second-best in the American League. He even has a 0.86 WHIP that leads all AL starters who qualify … Whether or not Sale is Cy Young-worthy is a question that will be answered over the final two months of the season.”

It will be interesting to see how much talk Sale gets in the final couple months of the season, because he is very deserving of being in the conversation of potential Cy Young Award candidates.

Thoughts?

In other White Sox news:

• The Chicago Tribune has a video on Adam Dunn talking about Sale’s pitching on Monday.

• White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper is out with vertigo writes ESPN Chicago.

• Scott Carroll is “eyeing redemption” on Tuesday against the Royals as reported by the official White Sox site.

• The Chicago Sun-Times writes “White Sox still hoping to get rolling.”

• Paul Konerko and Robin Ventura talk about the trade deadline in an article by CSN Chicago.

• Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago writes about the trade deadline and how it can create tension for players.

• Da Windy City wrote about the series against the Houston Astros.

• Remember Southside Showdown is honoring the career of Frank Thomas with “Big Hurt Week,” as here is the second article of the celebration looking at the two MVP awards of Thomas.