BALTIMORE -- The dismissal of Ray Rice wasnt a distraction for the Baltimore Ravens. Ultimately, it served as inspiration. Playing a pivotal divisional game three days after the release of the star running back, Baltimore got a pair of touchdown passes from Joe Flacco and rolled past the rival Pittsburgh Steelers 26-6 on Thursday night. Rice was reaching the end of a two-game suspension for domestic violence when a video of him striking his then-fiancee surfaced Monday. By the end of the day, the three-time Pro Bowler had been cut by Baltimore and suspended indefinitely by the NFL. "We had a tough family situation this week," coach John Harbaugh said. "I thought our guys handled it tremendously -- with class, with character. They responded." Coming off a season-opening loss to AFC North foe Cincinnati, the Ravens (1-1) held Pittsburgh to two field goals and forced three turnovers. "We was all about getting the win. We wanted to kind of give that to Ray," rookie linebacker C.J. Mosley said. "We all wish the best for him. Even though he messed up, every man got to go through their mistakes to get better. We wish him the best, but as a team weve just got to keep moving forward." Bernard Pierce took over for Rice to gain 96 yards on 22 carries as part of a ground game that finished with 157 yards. Flacco went 21 for 29 for 166 yards and two TD throws to tight end Owen Daniels, and Justin Tucker kicked four field goals. Asked if he was curious how the team would fare after the tumultuous short work week, Baltimore defensive lineman Chris Canty shouted, "We werent curious at all. We knew how this was going to go. This was going to go one way, our way, tonight. No question about it." Pittsburgh (1-1) finished with only 22 fewer yards than Baltimore, but the turnovers made the difference. One Steelers miscue halted their opening drive, another set up a fourth-quarter field goal by Tucker, and an interception thrown by Ben Roethlisberger with 1:51 remaining ended any hope. "Obviously, a disappointing effort for us," coach Mike Tomlin said. "A lot of the self-inflicted wounds are going to prevent you from being in a football game like that. We turned the ball over too often (and) were highly penalized. Those two things are a lethal combination." It was only the second time in the last 11 regular-season meetings between the teams that the outcome was decided by more than three points. Roethlisberger completed 22 of 37 passes for 217 yards. It was the first time since Nov. 26, 2006, that Baltimore held Pittsburgh without a touchdown. "We moved the ball; we just made a mistake here and there," Roethlisberger said. After Tucker kicked a 23-yard field goal for a 20-6 lead, Steelers tight end Heath Miller fumbled on a hit by Mosley, who took the loose ball to the Pittsburgh 20. That led to a 22-yarder by Tucker with 11:14 left. Although the Rice video and the reaction were the talk of Baltimore for much of the week, a few fans showed their loyalty to the banished running back by wearing his No. 27 jersey. But the crowd of 71,181 was quick to turn its attention to on-field action at the opening kickoff. Aided by a roughing the passer call against Courtney Upshaw on the third play of the game, Pittsburgh held the ball for more than eight minutes before Justin Brown fumbled and Baltimore recovered at its own 15. The Ravens then moved 85 yards in 12 plays with the help of two Pittsburgh penalties, the last a 23-yard pass interference call against Cortez Allen that set up a 2-yard touchdown pass from Flacco to Daniels. Pierce and Justin Forsett combined for 32 yards on Baltimores next series, which ended in a field goal for a 10-0 lead. Pittsburgh finally broke through with 2:50 left in the half, getting a field goal to end an 11-play, 73-yard drive. It was 10-6 before Flacco connected with Daniels on a 1-yard touchdown pass to cap an 80-yard drive highlighted by Flaccos 24-yard completion to tight end Dennis Pitta. Notes: Ravens CB Asa Jackson left with a concussion. ... Pittsburgh WR Antonio Brown left briefly with a head injury but returned. Steelers NT Steve McLendon left with a shoulder injury. ... Ravens P Sam Koch set the franchise record by playing in his 130th consecutive game. Cheap Athletics Jerseys . Murray, the defending champion and No. 3 seed, claimed his first match win at Queens in 2005 and went on to win the Wimbledon warmup three times. But he failed to take advantage of eight set points after leading the first-set tiebreaker 6-2, and Stepanek survived to convert with his second set point. Fake Athletics Jerseys . Raonic, the No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., had 18 aces in the match. He needed one hour 39 minutes to complete the victory. https://www.cheapathleticsonline.com/. -- LaMarcus Aldridge returned to the Trail Blazers lineup, happy to know that things didnt go awry without him. Chris Bassitt Athletics Jersey . -- The Minnesota Twins have granted relief pitcher Matt Guerrier his unconditional release, making the 35-year-old right-hander a free agent. Stitched Athletics Jerseys . But when it was all over they had wasted another lead, seen another pitcher flame out on the mound and lost their fourth straight at home.ERIE, Pa. - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday. The Midwest Division showdown moves London into second place, a point ahead of Erie. Josh Anderson added an empty netter for the Knights (43-12-5), who tied the game with a short-handed goal from Dakota Mermis and even-strength goals from Michael McCarron and Matt Rupert. Andre Burakovsky, Spencer Abraham and Connor McDavid staked the Otters (44-14-2) to a 3-0 lead in the opening period. Jake Patterson made 20 saves for London, and Eries Devin Williams allowed four goals on 24 shots. --- GREYHOUNDS 2 WOLVES 1 (SO) SUDBURY, Ont. — Jared McCann and Charley Graaskamp scored shootout goals to lead Sault Stte.dddddddddddd Marie over the Wolves. Brody Silk opened the scoring for Sudbury (30-20-10) at 13:08 of the first period with his first goal of the season. Patrick Watling tied it for the Greyhounds (39-16-5) at 19:44 of the first. Matt Murray made 45 saves for Sault Ste. Marie. Franky Palazzese stopped 37 shots for the Wolves. --- 67S 3 BULLS 2 (SO) BELLEVILLE, Ont. — Travis Konecny had the only goal of the shootout as Ottawa edged the Bulls. Aaron Berisha opened the scoring for Belleville (19-35-5) in the first period. Connor Brown tied it for Ottawa (21-34-4) in the second, and Andrew Ming put the Bulls in front at 17:37 before Brendan Bell got the equalizer for the 67s in the third period. Philippe Trudeau made 34 saves for Ottawa, and Charlie Graham turned away 26 shots for Belleville. ' ' '