BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : Mimbs vs. Mimbs: a Twin Killing?

Pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday was Michael Mimbs. Pitching for the Texas Rangers was Mark Mimbs--Michael’s identical twin brother.

Never before in baseball had twins pitched against each other.

Mark wound up the winning pitcher and Michael was the loser in Texas’ 6-5 victory, but they didn’t care.

Strikingly similar in the ways they pitch, walk and talk--they even paw at the rubber with the same motion--the 27-year-old left-handers had somewhat similar results. Each pitched two innings, each gave up two hits and each walked two.

“Watching him, I felt like I was still out there,” Michael said.

Mark, who had never faced his brother as a batter or pitcher at any level, got to hit against Michael. “The first thing I thought was that he might hit me,” Mark said. “But I knew he wouldn’t hit me. I’m his brother.”

Mark wound up striking out swinging at a changeup.

“I won’t say anything about it,” Michael said later.

The Mimbs, who were drafted by the Dodgers in 1990, are hoping to become only the ninth set of twins to play in the majors.

Jose and Ozzie Canseco are the last to make it. There have been many sets of brothers to pitch against each other, such as Phil and Joe Niekro, but never twins.

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Dwight Gooden, suspended on June 28, 1994, for violating his aftercare program, made his New York Yankees’ debut on Sunday, yielding two runs and three hits in three innings of a 6-5, 12-inning loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. . . . The Cincinnati Reds, who will be without closer Jeff Brantley for two months, are exploring the possibility of acquiring Dodger left-handed reliever Billy Brewer, or possibly another left-hander. Brantley had surgery Sunday on the broken bone in his right foot.