SPORTS DIGEST || Browns, Bryant meet to see if there's a future

Browns, Bryant meet to see if there's a future

CLEVELAND

Dez Bryant and the Browns are still in the courtship phase. Their future together is uncertain.

The three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver and his agent, Kim Maile, met with team officials at the Browns' headquarters in Berea, Ohio, on Thursday. The sides got to know each other better, and they are expected to meet again today to discuss a potential contract for Bryant with Cleveland.

Released by Dallas in April after eight seasons, Bryant is looking for a new NFL home and Cleveland, could be the place where he continues a brilliant career that has stalled.

Before meeting with coach Hue Jackson and general manager John Dorsey, Bryant stopped in the studio of the team's in-house radio show and gave an on-air update of his visit.

"I'm happy to be here, you know excited, you know just trying to work out some things," Bryant said. "It's a lovely place."

When one of the radio hosts observed that Bryant looked good wearing orange while he played at Oklahoma State, Bryant said, "Yeah, I did. I'd still look good in the brown. We'll see."

Scrappers lose at home to Auburn Doubledays

NILES

The Auburn Doubledays broke up a scoreless game with two runs in the top of the seventh and added four more in the ninth to beat the Mahoning Valley Scrappers 6-1 on Thursday night at Eastwood Field.

Auburn scored the first runs of the game thanks in part to two errors, a walk and a wild pitch in the seventh. The Doubledays' drove in a run with sacrifice fly and Jose Sanchez drove in another with a bloop single.

Tre Gantt's RBI single in the bottom of the eighth cut the deficit to one run, 2-1, but Auburn (33-24) put the game away with four in the ninth.

Scrappers third baseman Henry Pujols made two errors in the inning and had three of Mahoning Valley's four errors in the game.

Auburn starter Niomar Gomez and reliever Chandler Day combined on a two-hitter in the Doubledays' victory.

The Scrappers (32-25) will host the State College Spikes in the first game of a three-game series tonight at 7:05.

Rain washes out tennis matches in Mason

MASON

Novak Djokovic's quest for his first Western & Southern Open title ran into a different obstacle Thursday night, with batches of rain forcing his match against defending champion Grigor Dimitrov to be suspended overnight.

Roger Federer'S match against Leonardo Mayer was postponed until today as well, along with several others pushed back by day-long rain that made a mess of the brackets.

Djokovic and Dimitrov split the first two sets and then headed inside for a long rain delay. Djokovic broke Dimitrov to go up 2-1 in the third set, and more rain prompted play to be called off for the night. They'll resume in the morning.

In the women's bracket, Madison Keys used her forehand to beat Angelique Kerber - one of her toughest matchups - and advance to the quarterfinals in-between the storms.

Keys had lost five straight matches against No. 4 Kerber, but turned to her forehand to rally for a 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory. She hit 35 forehand winners, including the match-ending shot for her first Cincinnati quarterfinals.

Sauter wins NASCAR Truck race at Bristol

BRISTOL, TENN.

Johnny Sauter took the lead with five laps left when John Hunter Nemechek slowed because of late fuel pump issues, then held off Stewart Friesen on Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway for his fifth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season.

The 40-year-old Sauter wrapped up the series regular-season title by starting the race on the 0.533 oval, and went on to break a tie with Brett Moffitt for the series victory lead heading into the playoffs. Sauter won a week after losing the lead to Moffitt on the final lap at Michigan.

Staff and wire reports