NEW YORK -- To honor Boston, the New York Yankees played the Fenway Park traditional song, "Sweet Caroline," following the third inning of Tuesday night's game at Yankee Stadium.

Prior to the game, the Yankees held a moment of silence to honor the victims of the explosions during Monday's Boston Marathon.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and the families who were affected by the bombings and our respect and admiration go out to the police, medical personnel and first responders who acted so heroically," the Yankees said in a statement. "We stand united with the participants, volunteers, staff and spectators of the Boston Marathon and the people of Boston."

After the Yankees played the song, Neil Diamond tweeted: "Thank you NY Yankees for playing 'Sweet Caroline' for the people of Boston. You scored a home run in my heart."

Prior to the game, on an outside video board, the Yankees had their logo and the Red Sox emblem with the words, "United We Stand."

The Yankees said their policy is not to comment on security measures at Yankee Stadium, adding they are working with all levels of law enforcement to ensure a safe environment.

Hours before Tuesday's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, there were a few more uniformed officers outside the stadium than normal.

The Yankee most impacted on a personal level by Monday's events was Kevin Youkilis, who had spent the majority of his career with the Red Sox and is married to the sister of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady's father, Tom Sr., has an office near where the bombs exploded. Youkilis and his wife, Julie, are friends with former Patriot Joe Andruzzi and his wife.

Youkilis also had friends that he thought could be at the marathon. Everyone close to Youkilis was unharmed.

"We were pretty much sick to our stomach," Youkilis said. "For my family and I, it was supposed to be a good off day with the kids, but it turned into a lot of phone calls and worry. It was just a tragic day. You have thousands of people down there really enjoying amazing feats.

"I've been down there on the finish line. It is an amazing thing to watch these people finish a marathon and then something tragic like that happens. You can't put it into words. We are very fortunate, reaching out to all the people we know that everyone was OK. It was very unfortunate for hundreds of people who are in the hospital or lost their lives. It ate me up a lot. I lost a little sleep about it."

As a player, Youkilis said that once after the traditional Patriots Day game at Fenway Park, he went over to the finish line near where the bombs went off. His wife and her sisters have run in the marathon.

"You always know somebody in Boston that's running -- a family member, a loved one, and there are so many people who go to it," Youkilis said. "It is just a sad day."