SAN DIEGO -- When Adrian Gonzalez's mother turned her television to the Padres game on Sunday afternoon, she saw a slightly different piece of hardware in her son's hands than is the norm.

Gonzalez was swinging a pink bat in the Padres' game against the Rockies. He, along with several of his teammates and various players from around Major League Baseball, used and wore pink gear Sunday in honor of Mother's Day.

To celebrate the day, Gonzalez took his mom out to dinner Saturday night. He said she usually watches his games from her home in Chula Vista, Calif.

"She tries to catch a lot of baseball on television," said Gonzalez, who has used a pink bat the last two years. "She isn't here today, but I was with her a lot yesterday."

Wielding his new weapon, Gonzalez stroked an RBI double in the sixth inning of the Padres' 6-1 win.

Brian Giles also got into the act, using a pink bat for the first time in his career. He said he wasn't worried about the bat color affecting his sight at the plate, nor was he concerned with the feel of a new piece of lumber.

Giles received two pink bats from MLB, one was too top heavy, but the other was just right.

"The bat I used in the cage felt really good," Giles said. "I'm OK with using the new bats for Mother's Day. They're something good to promote [breast cancer awareness] and they're fun for the moms and fans out there."

Giles lined a single to center field in his first at-bat and finished the afternoon 1-for-3 with two walks. He said the team was making good contact at the plate and that if a few balls had found the right holes, San Diego could have scored more than it did.

"We haven't won many games the last week, so hopefully this is the start of something," Giles said. "It was a good feeling getting out there and putting some good swings on the balls."

Shortstop Khalil Greene added a two-run home run in the sixth inning using a pink bat.

Padres manager Bud Black said moms are often the best fans in the stadium, counting his wife and mother as followers of the game.

"It's a good thing that mothers are recognized," Black said. "I think it's fun for the moms. The best fans are moms across the country."

Pink bats have become annual Mother's Day symbols as part of an overall "Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer" initiative by Major League Baseball that raises awareness about breast cancer and directs massive proceeds to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Fans play the next big role in this process, because attention will move to the MLB.com Auction and the gradual arrival of those pink bats that were used and then signed, or just signed by entire teams. Signed home plates and bases with the pink-ribbon logo also will be among the auction items that annually draw a frenzy, and all proceeds again will go to Komen.

It is a "rolling auction," so if you don't see a player's bat in the next few weeks, keep coming back because eventually most or all of them show up there. Fans also can purchase their own personalized "Mother's Day 2008" pink bats right now for $79 apiece at the MLB.com Shop, with $10 from the sale of each one going to Komen.