As soon as Rivera fell in the outfield, the gravity of the moment could be read on the worried faces of everyone in the Yankees’ blue and gray uniforms.

Alex Rodriguez, who was waiting for his turn in the batting cage, appeared to say: “Oh my God. Oh, my God,” and immediately signaled to Girardi, who ran out to assist Rivera. For several minutes Rivera writhed on the warning track in obvious pain as grim-faced teammates and coaches stood nearby. After the game, the news was dealt with glumly in the Yankees’ clubhouse.

“I thought we were hoping for the best,” said Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira. “I told you this game is cruel before the game. It’s even more cruel now. That’s terrible. You can’t say anything else. It’s terrible.”

No one faulted Rivera for following the same pregame procedures he has throughout his career.

An outstanding athlete, Rivera fancies himself a credible center fielder, even pleading with Girardi to allow him to play the position in a game before he retires. Girardi has said numerous times he would like to accommodate Rivera, but was always too worried about an injury to let him go through with it.

For most of his 18 years with the Yankees, Rivera has been a fixture in center field during batting practice, along with the other pitchers, whose traditional duty is to retrieve fly balls. But Rivera always chased hits with more zeal and effort, including the one that led to his injury on Thursday.

The ball was hit by Jayson Nix, who had been called up from Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to replace the injured Eric Chavez. Rivera was in full trot chasing the ball when his knee gave way and he hopped once, banged off the wall and rolled to the ground.