De La Rosa, Rosario to clear up confusion

MIAMI -- Rockies left-handed pitcher Jorge De La Rosa vowed to work out the communication issues between him and catcher Wilin Rosario before his next start, on Saturday at home against the D-backs.

They talked at the behest of manager Walt Weiss after a five-run fifth inning -- De La Rosa's last of the night -- that was complete with contentious mound visits in the Rockies' 10-1 Opening Night loss to the Marlins on Monday night. The two met again Tuesday. On Wednesday, they'll work things out in their own pitcher-catcher way.

"I'm going to throw a bullpen [session], and he's going to call all my pitches tomorrow," De La Rosa said.

They simply have to settle whatever differences they have, which always arise when a runner is on second base and they try to change the signs. Even if they have crossed signals, De La Rosa can't let the outing deteriorate. He was down 2-0 when the trouble started Monday, and by the end, he was saddled with five runs in 4 1/3 innings. It was not what the Rockies were seeking from their No. 1 pitcher, for whom the club picked up an $11 million option for this year to keep him away from free agency.

Because of the rough defensive stats Rosario has had the first two seasons of his career, after he was called up from Double-A, he is roundly criticized as the problem, although the Rockies -- and the pitcher, himself -- laid more of the blame for Monday on De La Rosa losing his temper and letting his outing go haywire.

"I was mad at myself," the lefty said. "I got confused. Then he said he got confused, too. We both got confused. I never get mad at anybody.

"Everybody thinks I'm mad at him. I don't try to show up anyone. I told him before the game if I do something, I'm not trying to show him up. But people are going to think those things."

And although the two had problems the last time they worked together in Spring Training, forget simply having De La Rosa throw to someone else.

"Wilin's our catcher," Rockies pitching coach Jim Wright said. "Without him in our lineup, we suffer a little bit [offensively]. They'll work it out. They'll figure it out. It will not be a Steve Carlton-Tim McCarver type thing or Greg Maddux and his personal catcher. That's not going to happen.

"The whole thing with pitching is you have control of the situation. The situation cannot control you."

Rosario said it's simply a matter of practice.

"We talked already and we're going to get another set of signs and keep practicing that for the next four days until his next start," Rosario said. "We talked about it and we're going to figure it out."