CLEVELAND -- The Boston Red Sox are convinced the Indians are doing much more than videotaping games for instructional purposes.

Boston manager Jimy Williams asked that a camera atop the center-field wall at Jacobs Field be covered after he became suspicious that Cleveland was stealing signs.

"I think we've got something," Williams said.

Williams approached umpire crew chief Tim Welke before Tuesday night's game -- a 12-3 Boston victory -- with some kind of evidence that the Indians were up to no good.

And apparently whatever Williams showed Welke was enough to have the Indians cover the camera, which Cleveland says is used to evaluate its own players' performance.

Welke said he has notified the AL of the situation, and that the camera would remained covered for Wednesday's game.

"It's in the hands of the league office and being handled internally," he told the Associated Press before Wednesday night's game.

Welke declined to comment on what Williams showed him, saying, "That's up to Jimy."

Williams wasn't much more forthcoming, but said he heard whispers the Indians were cheating back in 1995 when he was Atlanta's third-base coach. The Braves played the Indians in the World Series that year.

"They (umpires) must have thought enough of what I showed them to have it covered up," he said.

It's not the first time Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove has had to defend his team against cheating allegations.

"I understand the Red Sox' concerns," Hargrove said. "There have been other clubs that we've had concerns with over the years. I don't know what we can do to alleviate their fears. We've covered up the camera. We don't cheat. We don't.

"I wish out players did, but we don't. I'm not talking about scuffing baseballs or corking bats. I'm not talking about cheating in that regard. But I wished we relayed signs and things like that, but our players don't want to. ... I understand their concerns on the other side. We'll do what we can to allay their fears but I don't know what I can do other than to say we're not doing it."

And anyway, Hargrove said, if the Indians are cheating at home, how is it that they've won 44 games outside of Jacobs Field?

"Our record on the road is pretty good too," he said. "I'm telling you that we don't do that (cheat).

Indians catcher Sandy Alomar said he was unaware of Boston's charges, and denied the Indians ever do anything underhanded.

"We don't steal signs," he said. "We don't have players who cheat."