The suspensions have been looming for many months, but today Major League Baseball finally made it official. It was announced that 12 players will be serving 50-game suspensions for violations of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program and in relation to the Biogenesis investigation. These 12 players have agreed to the suspensions and will begin serving the suspension effective immediately.

What about Alex Rodriguez? It seems that is an entirely different story. He has been issued a suspension through the end of the 2014 season. By all accounts, Rodriguez is set to fight this suspension and play during his appeal. These things take some time to run their course, so this could easily mean that Rodriguez is on the field with the Yankees for an extended period of time the rest of this season.

Baseball is a numbers-driven game, and keeping track of the data can put you one step ahead of most bettors. Here is a look at some important numbers to keep an eye on when betting on baseball in the week ahead.

0- The Philadelphia Phillies have 0 wins in their last 12 games against a right-handed starting pitcher. Philadelphia will host the Chicago Cubs this week, and they’ll have a few chances to break that slump against a bad team.

0- The Padres are 6-0 in their last six home games against a team with a winning road record. San Diego has been a difficult team for bettors to figure out this year, but those who have been on the Padres as home underdogs have done well this season.

7- The Boston Red Sox have won their last seven games against the Houston Astros. Boston starts a series in Houston this week. Normally it would be pretty big news for a team to win seven straight against any other team in the majors, but at this point we can’t be terribly surprised any time an opposing team has a winning streak against the hapless Astros!

10- The “under” is 10-1 in the Marlins last 11 road games. Any under bet with this Marlins team of late has been a wise move, but when Miami has been on the road it has been absolutely golden!

13- The San Francisco Giants have dropped 13 of their last 16 home games. The defending World Series Champions have fallen off in a big way in 2013. The Giants are accustomed to making late runs to build momentum as the postseason comes around. This year San Francisco is just battling to get out of the cellar in the NL West. This pitching staff just hasn’t been the same, and the Giants are built to win with pitching.

14- The Los Angeles Dodgers have won 14 road games in a row. That is getting the job done on the road! While the Dodgers are playing extremely well, fans have to be concerned that Hanley Ramirez went down with an injury on Sunday. Ramirez is hitting .361 and has been the team’s best player this year, so they need him back as soon as possible. The Dodgers are going to have this streak tested in a big way this week in St. Louis.

45- The Chicago White Sox are 16-45 in their last 61 games overall. Is there a team in baseball who seems to have packed it in for the season as early as this club? Most people didn’t expect a lot out of the White Sox this year, but they certainly expected something better than a 40-69 record through 109 games.

225- The Los Angeles Dodgers are listed at +225 to win the National League Pennant, according to current odds from Bookmaker. It really is amazing how this team has gone from an afterthought to the favorite for the NL Pennant in such a short amount of time. You can’t blame the oddsmakers for responding in a big way to the Dodgers hot streak. How could a team that is 31-7 in its last 38 games not be considered one of the favorites?

1314- The amount of money $100-per-game bettors have lost so far this year betting on the Washington Nationals in Stephen Strasburg’s starts. It would be easy to think that Strasburg has just been a major bust this year, but a closer look at the numbers tells us that really isn’t the case. Strasburg is only 4-4 at home despite having a ridiculously good 1.68 ERA. Are the Nationals ever going to start scoring some runs for Stephen Strasburg?

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