NEW YORK -- The Red Sox were happy to change up their colors for a good cause. In the last Mother's Day game played on Sunday, Boston's 5-1 win over the Yankees, there was no shortage of pink at Yankee Stadium.
Boston's road uniforms were numbered in bright pink, with pink lettering across the chest and a pair of pink socks replacing the usual red ones in the team's logo. It was all part of Major League Baseball's celebration of Mother's Day and an initiative to raise breast cancer awareness.
"You're going to have mothers watching the game and see that everybody all over the world supports them and [the fight against breast cancer]," said Red Sox first baseman Hanley Ramirez. "That's something that we all support. All the way from the league, MLB, to all the teams in the Minors, the players. It's one world, you know?"
Mookie Betts, the first batter of Sunday's game, stepped to the plate with pink long sleeves, pink batting gloves and a pink bat. Brock Holt and Jackie Bradley Jr. tracked down fly balls in pink cleats. David Ortiz, pink bat in hand, drove two majestic home runs into the right-field seats.
"I think I picked a really good day to hit two homers -- Mother's Day," Ortiz said.
He said he thought of his mother, Angela Rosa Arias, who died 14 years ago in a car accident, and his wife, Tiffany, with whom he has three children.
Boston closer Craig Kimbrel was also one of the players wearing pink Mother's Day cleats, and he said his mom was excited about it.
"She wants me to send her a picture of my pink cleats on," he said, "because she couldn't get me to wear pink when I was younger, and now that I'm in the big leagues, I am."
Before the game, Kimbrel also had on a special pink Mother's Day version of the "K Cancer" T-shirt popular around Major League clubhouses.
Authentic game-used Louisville Slugger pink bats and other gear from Mother's Day games will be auctioned exclusively at MLB.com, with proceeds benefiting the fight against breast cancer. The complete Mother's Day collection -- which includes the special caps and jerseys being worn by players on Sunday -- is available at the MLB.com Shop.
"I think it's great," Kimbrel said of the pink gear being worn around the league. "It just shows the unity that's in the game -- how, when there's a cause worth raising awareness for, we all want to make that happen."