A-Rod's teammates guarded on his possible suspension

Alex Rodriguez remains conspicuous by his absence. Perhaps even more so after an ESPN report Tuesday said Rodriguez could face up to a 100-game suspension as a result of Major League Baseball's investigation into alleged sales of performance-enhancing drugs to numerous players by Biogenesis, a now shuttered Miami clinic.

The Yankees' three-game sweep of the Indians received second billing to the latest news suggesting Rodriguez, who is rehabbing from hip surgery, could have his season wiped out with a lengthy suspension.

CC Sabathia was the winning pitcher, but he faced more questions about Rodriguez than his complete game. "I was pitching today, so I didn't really get a chance to think about it," he said. "It just kind of is what it is. One of those things where you have to wait and see what happens.

"We keep going. We've had guys go down, injuries, all kind of stuff this year. You have to keep going, nobody going to feel sorry for us. It's up to us, the guys in here, to support our teammate. Any time he's in here it makes your team better, but like I said, we have the guys in here that can step up and keep going."

Brett Gardner, who had a three-run home run, added, "There's no regrouping, 'cause we haven't had him for the last two months. It won't change anything at all. Right now we expect him to come back if and when he gets healthy. I know he's working."

As for the PED issue, Gardner added, "It's not something that anybody wants to see or be a part of. But the fact is, it's out there. We'll see how it all plays out."

Kevin Youkilis, who was acquired to play third base until Rodriguez returns, said players have become used to the investigations. "This isn't our first rodeo with this in a lot of ways," he said. "I think there's a lot of things that happened. I think a lot of it is just speculation right now, too. We don't know what's going to happen, we don't know if there are going to be suspensions. I think it's all just a process of trying to figure out what's going on."

Mariano Rivera was asked about the investigation and said, "Major League Baseball is all over that. We have to wait and see what happens. I don't know what's coming up. He's my friend, besides that he's my teammate, also. It's not easy to be in the cameras and the papers always. But at the same time all I have to do is [show] support."

Rivera said he has not addressed the issue with Rodriguez. "I don't think I will be the one to ask," he said. "If he wants to share with me, he can do that. I don't think I start the conversation with something like that."

Manager Joe Girardi added, "When I talk to him, it will strictly be baseball stuff and rehab stuff, like it always has been."

That is not to say Girardi is ignoring the issue. "When we talk about this, my concern is about the game, and the game being clean and the game just being good,'' he said. "I'd hoped that we were through it, but obviously maybe we're not, we're going to find out, but we'll let MLB handle it."

With David Lennon