Former Aquinas pitcher Kaleb Ort became just the third player in school history to reach the Major Leagues, as the righthanded reliever saw his first action in the majors on Monday night (Sept. 13) for the Boston Red Sox. Ort is the first Saint to play in a major league game since 1999.
 
Called up prior to Boston's weekend road series against the Chicago White Sox, Ort did not get called into pitch before the team traveled west to open a three-game series in Seattle against the Mariners. He made his first major league appearance on Monday night, starting the bottom of the eighth inning in a game the Red Sox trailed, 5-4.
 
Ort allowed a leadoff single to Abraham Toro before retiring Luis Torrens on a flyball to right field. He issued a one-out walk to Tom Murphy before being removed from the game. Fellow reliever Josh Taylor retired the final two batters of the inning, stranding the runners on base. The Red Sox, fighting for an American League wild card berth, fell by the same 5-4 score. 
 
The 12-pitch outing for Ort made him the third player in school history to ever play in a major league game. He joins former Aquinas pitchers Dave Gumpert and Paul Assenmacher as Saints to reach the big show. 
 
Ort earned his call-up to the majors after pitching very well for the Worcester Red Sox this season, logging a 3.12 ERA in 43 1/3 innings for the WooSox. He recorded 59 strikeouts and collected 18 saves over his 40 appearances, while owning a 1.38 WHIP.
 
While at Aquinas from 2011 to 2014, Ort appeared in 34 games and made 26 starts. He finished his career with a 9-6 record and a 3.71 ERA, while notching 173 strikeouts in 172.1 innings.
 
Gumpert was the first Aquinas player to crack into the majors. He logged a career 3-2 record with five saves in 86 career appearances for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, and Kansas City Royals from 1982-87. 
 
Assenmacher tallied a 61-44 mark with 56 saves during his lengthy 14-year career. He pitched in 884 games and logged 855.2 career innings for the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Indians from 1986-99.
 
Both Gumpert and Assenmacher are in the Coach Terry Bocian AQ Athletic Hall of Fame.
 
After the series with the Mariners concludes, Ort and the Red Sox head to Boston for his first home series with the team, a three-game matchup with the Baltimore Orioles.