Sale given extra day of rest, will face Buehrle

CHICAGO -- The pitching matchup between Mark Buehrle and Chris Sale for Monday night at U.S. Cellular Field became all but official, with White Sox manager Robin Ventura announcing Friday that Sale would start the Blue Jays' series opener and Carlos Rodon would pitch Sunday against the Orioles.

"We didn't do it because of that, but you now notice it. It could be a quick game," Ventura said of Buehrle and Sale matching up on the mound. "This isn't anything to do with [Sale] health-wise.

Video: Chris Sale joins Pedro Martinez in elite class

"He's not complaining about anything. It's just more of being able to give him an extra day. We've done it in the past where, whenever we had a chance, we'd take care of him."

• Sale named AL Pitcher of the Month

Sale was named American League Pitcher of the Month for June on Thursday's White Sox off-day, in what amounted to one of the best months for a White Sox pitcher in franchise history. The southpaw fanned a franchised record 75 in June and joined Pedro Martinez as the only pitchers in Major League history to reach 10-plus strikeouts in eight consecutive games.

Not one for the individual accolades, Sale was as quick to credit catcher Tyler Flowers for his success as he was to revel in his own results.

Video: #THIS: Sale ties Pedro with historic strikeout run

"It's cool. It's something to kick around, talk about, later on down the road," said Sale of the honor. "I definitely appreciate it, people looking at what we've done together with Flow this past month.

"There's a lot of hard work that goes into it, so it's nice to see that it's paying off for both of us. But like I said before, I'm not going to sit here and be focused on that."