TORONTO — Blue Jays slugger Marcus Semien set a major league record for home runs by a second baseman when he hit his 44th of the season on Wednesday night against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.

Semien’s homer, a two-run drive into the left field bullpen, broke a tie with Davey Johnson (1973 for Atlanta), and gave Toronto an early lead in their September showdown against an AL wild-card rival.

Rogers Hornsby (42 home runs in 1922) and Brian Dozier (42 in 2016) are the only other second basemen in big league history to reach the 40-homer mark.

Semien’s homer was Toronto’s ML-leading 249th of the season.

Four of Semien’s home runs this season have come while he was at shortstop.