Rivera twisted his right knee while shagging fly balls during batting practice before the Yankees' 4-3 loss to Kansas City. He was carted off the field and transported to an area hospital, where doctors said an MRI revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
"If that's what it is, that's about as bad as it gets," manager Joe Girardi said after the game.
Asked about the possible end of a 17-year career that almost certainly will take Rivera -- with 608 saves -- to the Hall of Fame, Girardi said, "Would I want it to end this way? No, I wouldn't."
Rivera, known for chasing down batting-practice flies more earnestly than most pitchers, crumpled on the center-field warning track as he tracked a drive by teammate Jayson Nix. The knee appeared to give way a step before he reached the ball and the wall.
On the ground, he grabbed at the knee and grimaced. Girardi quickly raced to him and, with bulpen coach Mike Harkey, lifted Rivera into the back of a cart that whisked him off the field.
"He was in pain," Girardi said. "Mo's been shagging for a long, long time, and he hit that dirt and the dirt kind of gave way a little bit on the warning track. And his knee buckled. We weren't sure what was going to come up."
New York trainers and the Royals' associate physician, Joe Noland, examined him, and sent Rivera to the hospital for the MRI. Much of a crowd 19,590 at Kauffman Stadium still hadn't arrived.
The injury occurred on the field where Rivera had figured to join the American League all-star team in July for the 13th time. Remarkably resilient, he has made at least 60 appearances in a a major-league record 14 seasons and hasn't been on the disabled list since starting 2003 with a groin strain.
"It was a freak thing," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said of Rivera's current injury. "There's no other way to explain it.
"You're talking about somebody who's done something that's never been done before. Its not like someone just comes along the next day and starts to do it."
Coming into this season, the 42-year-old righthander was coy about whether it would be his last. Not that he was showing his age. Rivera has thrown eight scoreless innings, striking out seven, walking none and allowing just three hits, since blowing a season-opening save at Tampa Bay. In nine appearances, he's 1-1 with five saves and a 2.16 ERA.
His last save came in the Yankees' last win, 2-1 over Baltimore on Monday in Yankee Stadium.
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