PITTSBURGH -- Josh Bell had hit 149 career home runs at PNC Park.

No. 150 came in a Nationals uniform.

“I knew,” Bell said after the Nats’ 4-3 loss to the Pirates. “I knew it was gone just based off the feel and knowing the park.”

Bell returned to Pittsburgh on Friday for the first time since being acquired by Washington this winter. He began his Major League career with the Pirates' organization and called PNC Park home for five seasons before he was traded for pitching prospects Wil Crowe and Eddy Yean on Christmas Eve.

The first baseman was greeted by a tribute video and a roaring crowd, which gave him flashbacks to the first standing ovation he received as a big leaguer from Pirates fans in 2016.

“Different scenario, different team, but it was similar energy, and I thought it was pretty special,” he said.

Although Bell had to get acclimated to being on the visitors’ side of the park, he looked extremely comfortable at the plate, sending a fastball from Pirates reliever Sam Howard a Statcast-projected 429 feet into center field at 107.7 mph in the sixth inning. 

“He’s a professional,” said bench coach Tim Bogar, in the role of acting manager on Friday as Dave Martinez served a one-game suspension. “He steps into this place here with a lot of emotion, a lot of thoughts on his mind, and he can bring it back to center and do what he has to do: Take pitches and when you get one, hit it out. And that’s exactly what he did tonight.”

The homer was Bell’s team-leading 26th of the season, and his third dinger in six games. He finished the night 1-for-2 with two walks, and has hit safely in 16 of his last 18 contests.

Bell credits hitting coach Kevin Long for his recent surge, which has put a bumpy first half of the season behind him. The switch-hitter has implemented Long’s advice about staying in his legs and staying through balls on his swing. Even though Bell admits he was “kind of stubborn at first, thinking that things would go my way,” he has seen the adjustments pay off. 

Friday’s home run, for example, was particularly notable to Bell because he belted it while batting right-handed. 

“Specifically right-handed, I think that’s the best ball that I’ve hit -- especially here,” he said. “Kudos to Kevin Long for all the work that we’ve been putting in in the cage, and it’s nice to finally see that right-handed.”

One game down, two to go against Bell’s former team this weekend. He’s sure to draw more cheers and ovations from the fans who watched him develop from a Rookie of the Year vote-getter to an All-Star. He's made his mark at PNC Park, both as a player and a person. 

“Josh is awesome,” said Ke’Bryan Hayes, who hit the Pirates’ walk-off single off Alberto Baldonado. “He’s a great teammate and a great guy on and off the field. The crowd ... He was always a fan favorite. I don’t think anyone ever really talked bad about him as a person. He was like that all the way from when he got drafted, still to this day.”