Well, it’s official ... ReyLo is the 2018 Gio

Let’s tip this sad game story off with a comparison of two current Chicago White Sox starters. Can you tell who’s who?

Pretty similar, huh? W-L, starts, innings, earned runs, WHIP all dead on. This terrible Player A had a lot more trouble with control, Player B with hits ... but in the end, put similar numbers of baserunners on. You might give the advantage to Player B, because despite more contact, fewer baserunners scored on him; a 5.57 ERA is howlingly bad, but 6.13 is otherworldly for a 32-start season.

If you still can’t guess these two guys, how about adding a crucial giveaway?

If you didn’t figure it out before, the “starts before season listed” should ice it.

Lucas Giolito had just 13 career starts before his career debacle in 2018 — part of the rationale as to why he can’t be considered a “comeback” player in 2019 (what was he coming back from, exactly?).

Reynaldo López, however, had 51 starts before his particular bottoming out, here in 2019.

This comparison is presented without significant commentary, because who’s to say whether the gold struck by Giolito in his offseason workouts and recalibrating can be duplicated by López, one year older, with one year more wear and tear. We can hope.

Hope was not on display today in Detroit, however, as López spit the bit on a chance to send his ERA below five-and-a-half and end his season on an up note (López should still have another start this season, but who knows, he’s hit the 32 GS mark and it might be a case of wrapping his arm — and head — in plastic before more damage is done.)

Gifted with the bounty of an Eloy Jiménez two-run shot (his 30th of the season) in the first inning, López gave the surplus right back in the bottom half, on a Jeimer Candelario round-tripper.

But López wasn’t done there, allowing runs in the second (homer), third (single) and fourth (homer). At just 71 pitches but down 5-3, López was pulled in what was both an attempt to protect him from a Double-A lineup pounding crap out of him (nine hits, five earned, three homers in four frames) and ostensibly an attempt by the White Sox to actually win the game against an eminently beatable opponent.

But beat Detroit, the White Sox would not. In the final four frames, the White Sox would muster four hits ... and natch, four Ks (11 Ks, two walks for the full game today ... don’t stop now, boys!).

It’s an off-day tomorrow before Cleveland visits for three must-win games in Chicago beginning on Tuesday. The White Sox need just two wins in their final seven games to clinch 70 victories for the season.