TRENTON — Looking almost distraught in the hallway outside of the Thunder clubhouse yesterday, Thunder reliever Wilkin De La Rosa unequivocally denied that he ever injected himself, or anyone else, with vitamin B-12 or any other substance.

The denial stems from a New York Post report Friday that he and former Thunder teammate Ivan Nova did in fact inject each other with B-12 in the home clubhouse. MLB is investigating whether, if the allegations are true, B-12 was the only thing in the players’ syringes.

“I have never done that and doing that has never entered my mind. I don’t know why anyone would make that comment,” De La Rosa said. “I was surprised because I don’t even think about anything like that. They called me into the office (Friday in Harrisburg) and told me. I thought it was about something else...not even close to something like that. I have never done that.”

In and of itself, B-12 is legal under Major League Baseball’s rules. Injecting oneself or someone else with it, however, is not. Any and all injections must be performed by a licensed physician.

When Tony Franklin heard about the report, it produced one main reaction: The manager spoke with both De La Rosa and Mark Newman, the Yankees’ Vice President of Baseball Operations, about how to handle the situation.

“I was shocked when I heard there was an article written,” he said. “I just don’t believe it. When I heard about it, in my opinion, I don’t think it happened…It just absolutely floored me. I was shocked. I feel bad for he and Nova that this report came about.”

As for the source of leak to the Post, both Franklin and De La Rosa are in the dark. More concerning to the pitcher than the allegations, however, is the stigma attached to his name now that the allegations have surfaced.

“I have no idea where (the leak) came from,” he said. “That kind of comment – you have it with you for life. This is the last time I am going to talk about it because I didn’t do anything wrong so there is no need to talk about it.”

Six Yankees minor leaguers have been suspended for performance-enhancing drugs this season. Former Thunder reliever Amauri Sanit, who tested positive for mephentermine in late May, was the only player to ascend past rookie ball.

The other five, Rony Bautista (boldendone), Josue Rodriguez (stanzolol), Daury Aquino (stanzolol), Alexander De Los Santos (boldendone) and Angel Rincon (stanzolol), each played on one of the Yankees’ two Dominican Summer League clubs.