Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds hit back-to-back home runs to get the Pittsburgh Pirates off to a strong start, and Cruz added another tape-measure blast that gave them a five-run lead.

Cruz went 2 for 4 with four RBIs, driving in the tying run by sprinting to beat the double-play throw on a fielder’s choice.

But the Philadelphia Phillies rallied back with a Kody Clemens grand slam off starter Quinn Priester to tie the score, then scored two runs on a bases-loaded error by second baseman Termarr Johnson in the ninth for a 9-7 win Sunday afternoon in a Grapefruit League game at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla.

Cruz led off the bottom of the first inning by crushing Max Castillo’s fastball 412 feet to right field at an exit velocity of 116.6 mph for his second home run of spring training. Reynolds followed with a 384-footer to right-center for his third homer and a 2-0 lead.

After designated hitter Carter Bins — a replacement for Joshua Palacios, who was a late scratch because of an illness — singled to score Jared Triolo in the second inning, Cruz turned on a full-count changeup over the heart of the plate for a two-run blast with a 114.4 mph exit velocity that carried 434 feet and gave the Pirates a 5-0 lead.

“My main focus has been just look for good pitches to swing and just let go of the bad pitches,” Cruz said through an interpreter, Pirates coach Stephen Morales, on the SportsNet Pittsburgh telecast. “Just swing at pitches that are around the zone.”

Taking advantage of the Gulf winds blowing out, the Pirates are leading the majors with 31 home runs in spring training. Henry Davis leads the team with four, and Cruz, Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Canaan Smith-Njigba have three apiece.

“It’s a little bit of a lot of things,” Reynolds told SportsNet Pittsburgh. “We’re playing in a hurricane most of the time, so if you barely hit it in the air it’s going to be a homer. Obviously, Cruz is putting on a show. So is Henry. It’s fun to watch.”

So was Priester, who was sharp from the start with a seven-pitch first inning. Relying on hard slider that he threw on 20 of his 58 pitches and a four-seam fastball that touched 95.9 mph, Priester was able to get ahead in counts and retired the first seven batters he faced.

In the third, Garrett Stubbs singled to center, advanced to third on a Carlos De La Cruz single to right and scored when Johan Rojas grounded into a forceout at second to cut it to 5-1. But Priester picked off Rojas with a throw to Rowdy Tellez at first base to end the inning.

Priester encountered trouble in the fourth, giving up a single to Darick Hall, hitting Edmundo Sosa with a pitch and another single to Jake Cave to load the bases. Then Clemens hit a 2-0 fastball to right field for a tying grand slam.

Priester, who allowed five runs on five hits without a walk while striking out three, told Steven Brault on SportsNet Pittsburgh that he was pleased with his outing but will take a closer look at the fourth inning.

“You look at first-pitch strikes. Am I getting ahead of guys? Am I putting guys on their heels or am I letting guys get into advantage counts,” Priester said. “In that fourth inning, I definitely let guys get into advantage counts too often, and they were able to get to me. Going forward, I’ve got to be able to limit the damage in those situations just by mixing and slowing the game down. Getting ahead is a big thing for me. I’ll go and look at why the first three were so successful and then see if there is a big difference with the fourth, and I’m sure there will be some things.”

Sosa reached on a throwing error by Cruz in the sixth, stole second base and scored on a double to right off Jared Jones by former Pirate Rodolfo Castro to give the Phillies a 6-5 lead. Stubbs followed with a double down the right-field line to score Castro and extend it to 7-5.

Triolo drew a leadoff walk with an eight-pitch at-bat against Jose Ruiz, who was replaced by Austin Brice. Edward Olivares followed with an RBI double to the left-field corner to cut it to 7-6 then scored on a fielder’s choice by Cruz to tie the score.

The Phillies tacked on two more runs in the ninth against Braxton Ashcraft, who gave up singles to De La Cruz and Erick Brito and walked Cal Stevenson before Johnson couldn’t handle Ethan Wilson’s grounder with two outs in the ninth.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton told SportsNet Pittsburgh during an in-game interview that Cruz is “moving well” and will make back-to-back starts this week and even play three games in a row soon.

“The homers are nice. The thing that stands out to me the most is (with) two strikes, putting the ball in play and beating out the play on a fielder’s choice and getting an RBI,” Shelton said. “Those are the little things that will continue to develop in his game as he makes more contact. Obviously, two prodigious home runs that went a long way, but his last at-bat with two strikes is the thing that really fires me up.”

Note: The Pirates reassigned catcher Abrahan Gutierrez, right-handed pitcher Ben Heller and left-hander Michael Plassmeyer to minor league camp. There are now 55 players remaining in major league camp.

Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at [email protected].