VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) -Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda returned to the dugout as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday for the first time in 12 years.

He didn’t stay there long.

Lasorda, who retired from managing in 1996 after 21 years, is temporarily taking over for Joe Torre this week while Torre travels to China with part of the squad for two exhibition games against San Diego.

Lasorda’s first game back, a 7-6 loss to the Florida Marlins, seemed just like the old days. The 80-year-old stormed onto the field in the second inning to argue with an umpire when James Loney was tagged out running to first base on a bunt. Lasorda thought it was foul.

The play ended the inning, and Lasorda was directed back to the dugout as the crowd cheered.

“He was yelling,” Loney said. “He was giving it to him. But that’s Tommy, though. You’ve got to win.”

Though Lasorda was disappointed with the loss, he enjoyed being back at the helm.

“It’s been a long time for me. I am so happy and grateful they allowed me to do it. I wish we would have won the game, but we’ll get them next time,” said Lasorda, who went 1,599-1,439 as a manager and won World Series championships with the Dodgers in 1981 and ’88.

Lasorda said he is managing just as he did more than a decade ago, but with the addition of pitch counts, which he dislikes.

So it wasn’t really a surprise when, on the first pitch with a runner on base, the Dodgers pulled a hit-and-run to move Juan Pierre from first to third. Pierre scored two batters later when Russell Martin grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

“You’ll see a lot of running, a lot of hit-and-runs,” Lasorda said. “That’s the way I played.”

Torre watched part of the game from inside the spring training offices so he could see Hong-Chih Kuo pitch an inning, then left for Orlando, where he and a roster of 27 players will fly out on Wednesday.

Kuo, scratched from a start last week because of elbow soreness, pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning before leaving for the China trip, and said he hasn’t felt that dominant in a while.

“I feel better each time,” he said. “I just followed (catcher) Russell Martin and tried to hit his spots.”

The Dodgers’ mound staff ran into trouble in the seventh, giving up four runs and blowing a 5-3 lead.

Yhency Brazoban allowed three runs and two hits and walked one in just two-thirds of an inning, and Joe Beimel gave up another run and three hits.

Late relief pitching was a highlight for Florida. Left-hander Taylor Tankersley earned the win after pitching a scoreless sixth.

Marlins starter Andrew Miller, trying to earn a spot in the rotation, allowed the Dodgers a 3-1 lead after two innings. He gave up three runs and four hits in four innings, with three walks and a strikeout.

Although he hasn’t shown much consistency this spring, going from an outing in which he had five walks to another when he walked just one, Miller didn’t seem too concerned.

“There are command issues, but in general I’d say the fastballs were pretty good today,” he said. “A lot of the trouble I got into with the walks was trying to use my other pitches and establish them, which I didn’t do.

“That’s the kind of thing you can do in spring training.”

Notes: The Marlins optioned RHP Carlos Martinez to Triple-A. He reported to camp Tuesday after being delayed by visa problems. … Dodgers RHP Brad Penny appeared as a pinch-hitter for reliever Scott Proctor because the team was short on players. Penny grounded out. … Marlins LHP Scott Olsen threw off a mound for the first time since March 2, his most recent start. He was scratched from a scheduled start last Wednesday because of left shoulder tendinitis. RHP Sergio Mitre (stiff elbow) also threw off a mound Tuesday. He and Olsen are slated to throw again Thursday, but the Marlins aren’t sure when either will be ready to return.

AP-ES-03-11-08 1902EDT