Yanks' Dustin Fowler crashes into railing in debut, ruptures patella tendon

— -- CHICAGO -- New York Yankees?rookie outfielder Dustin Fowler?suffered an open rupture of the patella tendon in his right knee crashing in the first-base-line rail at at Guaranteed Rate Field in the first inning of his MLB debut Thursday night.

The Yankees said he would be undergoing surgery later in the evening at Chicago's?Rush University Medical Center.

Fowler stayed on the ground for several minutes before medics stabilized his knee. He was eventually hoisted onto a cart and driven off the field.

Fowler was due to leadoff the second inning. It would have been his first major league at-bat.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi put his hands over face as team trainer Steve Donohue attended to Fowler down the right-field line. His teammates on the field all watched with concerned looks on their faces.

Fowler initially tried to regain his footing, but collapsed to the ground. He showed little emotion.

It was unclear if the wet surface had anything to do with the injury. The Yankees and White Sox were delayed 2 hours, 50 minutes as first pitch was not until 10 p.m. CT.

Fowler, 22, is another of the Yankees' long lists of prospects. A left-handed hitter, he batted .293 with 13 homers and 43 RBIs in 70 Triple-A games. Scouts have compared him to a young Steve Finley.

After a long flight from Syracuse to Chicago on Thursday, Fowler arrived saying he felt "overwhelmed" with excitement and happy to be in the lineup.

Due to the short notice, Fowler's family could not join him in Chicago, but they were scheduled to meet Fowler and the Yankees in Houston on Friday.