MLB Playoffs 2015: Royals Ace Johnny Cueto Accuses Blue Jays of Stealing Signs

The Kansas City Royals are leading the American League Championship Series (ALCS) against the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1.

Even though the Royals are just one win away from playing in the 2015 World Series, Royals ace Johnny Cueto reportedly believes that they could have already won the series if the Blue Jays did not cheat in game 3.

According to Cueto's teammate, Edinson Volquez, Cueto allegedly stated that he thought the Blue Jays were stealing signs Monday night.

"I think he [Cueto] said last night, they got a guy in center field. You see how hard it is. He looks to center field and he sees somebody do this or do that. It's really hard to do that," Volquez said prior to the Royals 14-2 Game 4 win on Tuesday.

Volquez, who did not seem to believe Cueto's claims, added, "That's your fault. You've got to hide the ball and have better communication with the catcher giving you signs when you're pitching. So it's nothing wrong with it. We just have to hide the ball and give multiple signs to hide it from them."

Royals manager Ned Yost and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred did not take the accusations seriously either.

"We always watch for that whoever we're playing," Yost said. "We use multiple signs, set up late. It's not really an issue for us. We always make sure we are changing signs because clubs will look to relay location. But we haven't seen any sign of it here."

Manfred said, "Stealing signs is something that is often claimed, rarely proven in baseball."

Even though there appears to be no evidence of stealing signs in Game 3, the Blue Jays have been accused of doing this in the past. Back in 2011, ESPN reported that four unnamed relievers had accused an AL team of using a man in the outfield to send signs. Russell Martin, who is a Blue Jay now, also accused them in 2011, when he was a Yankee, of sending signs.

Blue Jays manager, John Gibbons, did not seem bothered by Cueto's accusations.

"I don't think that's what's going on," Gibbons said. "That's something that's been around baseball for a long time. There was some talk in the game on Saturday that they came back and beat us, maybe they were stealing signs. I can't get caught up in that."

Game 5 of the ALCS will be played today, Oct. 21 at 4:07 p.m. on FS1.