As season openers go, the final moments for the Chicago White Sox-Detroit Tigers game Friday ranks as one of the stranger ones in recent history.

The Sox allowed two runs in the ninth, falling 5-4 in front of 43,480 at Comerica Park.

The Tigers tied the game on a one-out home run to left by Eric Haase off All-Star closer Liam Hendriks. Austin Meadows reached on a two-out triple to right. And then the game got really wild.

New Tigers shortstop Javier Báez hit a fly ball to deep right field. AJ Pollock appeared to make an amazing juggling catch near the wall. But after a review, it was clear the ball first hit the wall just above Pollock’s glove.

Báez was credited with a game-winning single, handing the Sox a tough loss.

“I had no idea (initially) if the ball hit the wall first or if it hit my glove,” Pollock said. “I felt it hit the glove, so maybe I was hoping it hit the glove, hit the wall and popped straight up. Those things happen kind of quick. Unfortunately it didn’t work out.

“It was just a crazy game.”

The Sox squandered two leads.

They led 3-0 after two innings, getting two-out RBIs from Eloy Jiménez in the first and Pollock and Luis Robert in the second. Pollock, acquired in an April 1 trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers for Craig Kimbrel, finished with three hits, an RBI and a run in his Sox debut.

With starter Lucas Giolito dealing, the Sox appeared to be in good shape.

But the right-hander left after the fourth inning with abdominal tightness on his left side. He is being evaluated, according to the team.

Giolito allowed one hit, struck out six and walked two in four scoreless innings. He exited after throwing 61 pitches.

“I’m concerned because knowing him he won’t want to come out, drag him out of there,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “I’m concerned because he felt something, and he was smart, didn’t feel well. Didn’t go back out because who knows what’s going to happen. We’ve got a lot riding on him getting checked and seeing what it is.”

Giolito, starting the opener for the third straight season, struck out one in the first, two in the second and three in the third. He twice fanned Báez.

“(He was) throwing the ball so well, when he came out he felt a little tug in there, didn’t want to take any chances,” La Russa said.

The Tigers scored once in the sixth, an inning that concluded when Jeimer Candelario was called for interference for his hard slide into second base, resulting in an inning-ending double play instead of a second run.

The Tigers loaded the bases against reliever Aaron Bummer with two outs in the eighth. Hendriks entered against future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera, who dropped a single in front of center fielder Luis Robert. Two runs scored on the bloop hit, tying the game at 3.

“Exactly where I wanted (the pitch), up and in off the plate, and he broke his bat and it just landed in there,” Hendriks said. “I made the pitch I wanted to ,but it’s not the result I wanted, and that’s the thing that hurts the most today. Yes, the loss hurts, but it’s the inherited runs and not picking up another teammate, and that’s what really irks me.”

Designated hitter Andrew Vaughn came through with one out in the ninth, homering to left against Gregory Soto to put the Sox ahead 4-3.

“Faced Soto last year, he likes to quick pitch,” Vaughn said. “Got a hard fastball and a hard sinker and I just saw a pitch up and I thought it was a slider and I put a good swing on it.

“It was a pretty good feeling to quiet the crowd down a little bit and get the momentum in our favor. It just didn’t turn our way in the end.”

Hendriks looked at the bottom of the ninth as a “redemption” opportunity.

“Obviously I made the pitches when I needed to in the eighth after the first single, it went exactly as I wanted it to,” Hendriks said. “It was just Haase put up a good battle, and I left that one leaking over middle in and that’s the pitch he hits, especially after I threw him seven or eight straight fastballs.

“I’ve just got to make better pitches. I’ve got to make better pitch selection. And that’s something that needs to happen really quickly.”

As for the last play of the game, Hendriks — like many in the ballpark — initially thought it was a catch.

“But you see the replay and obviously it showed it hit off the top of the wall,” he said. “I didn’t think (Báez) got it that well, but it just kept going.”

It’s just one of 162. But the Sox had already suffered a setback late in spring training with the loss of Lance Lynn for the first few weeks of the season. The starter is possibly out for eight weeks (right knee surgery to repair torn tendon). Now they await word on Giolito’s status.

“Injuries happen and unfortunately we’ve been dealing with that early on here,” Pollock said. “There’s going to be a lot of teams dealing with injuries. Yeah, it’s not ideal.”

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