Stuttgart completed their second 2-1 victory over Freiburg in four days to move up to 10th in the Bundesliga and dent their local rivals' hopes of qualifying for Europe.
Christian Gentner and Vedad Ibisevic were on target for Bruno Labbadia's men with Ivan Santini's first Bundesliga goal not enough for the guests.
Freiburg remain fifth, one point behind fourth-placed Schalke, but with three sides within a point below them going into the last four games of the season.
Bayer Leverkusen can start planning for Champions League football next season after demolishing Hoffenheim 5-0 to leave their guests in serious relegation danger at the bottom of the table.
Stefan Kiessling and Andre Schurrle scored two goals each for Leverkusen with Stefan Reinartz adding a fifth.
Simon Rolfes saw his penalty saved after Eugen Polanski was shown a red card for the visitors, who remain six points adrift of safety with just four games of the season remaining.
Defender Marco Russ and veteran goalkeeper Oka Nikolov were Eintracht Frankfurt's heroes as they closed in on fourth-placed Schalke with a 1-0 win at the Waldstadion.
Russ' 41st-minute goal was enough for victory, but Frankfurt had their 38-year-old custodian to thank for keeping a priceless clean sheet.
Two goals from new skipper Rafael van der Vaart helped Hamburg to a 2-1 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf that takes them back into the running for a place in Europe next season.
The Dutchman, who was handed the captain's armband last weekend, scored twice in the first 20 minutes as Thorsten Fink's men picked up their second win in a row to move to within a point of the top six.
Dani Schahin scored a consolation for Fortuna, who ended the game on the attack, but were unable to find an equaliser.
Wolfsburg piled the misery on Werder Bremen with a 3-0 win at the Weser Stadium to increase the pressure on Thomas Schaaf, leaving his side winless in nine games.
Goals from Maximilian Arnold, Ivica Olic and Diego earned the Wolves all three points in their northern Germany rivals' den, giving them a 10-point advantage over the bottom three with four games of the season remaining.
Greuther Furth kept their slim survival hopes alive with victory in a fiercely contested 1-0 Bavarian derby win at Nurnberg.
Johannes Geis' first professional goal in the 26th minute was enough for Furth to win for only the third time this season and edge to within nine points of the relegation play-off with four games of the season remaining.
Nurnberg hit the woodwork three times but came away with nothing to show for their efforts.
