Andre Schuerrle scored twice and set up another goal Sunday to lead Mainz to a come-from-behind 4-2 win at Hamburger SV that takes his side into fourth place in the Bundesliga.
Schuerrle equalized in the 56th minute and gave his side the lead in the 81st before and setting up Florian Heller in the 88th.
Marcell Jansen opened the scoring for Hamburg in controversial fashion, his volley crashing off the crossbar in front of the line in the 17th. Despite Mainz protests, referee Babak Rafati allowed the goal stand.
Schuerrle equalized after getting ahead of Dennis Aogo to head past goalkeeper Frank Rost, but Malden Petric reclaimed the lead for Hamburg three minutes later.
Mainz equalized again when Hamburg's Gojko Kacar's attempted clearance from Marcel Risse's speculative cross deflected past his own goalkeeper in the 61st.
Schuerrle collected Eugen Polanski's pass in his own half as Hamburg pressed for a winner, sprinted toward goal and lifted the ball over Rost. There was still time for him to set up Heller's first Bundesliga goal.
Mainz rises to fourth, one point ahead of Bayern with nine rounds left to play. Hamburg remains seventh.
Earlier, Werder Bremen substitute Marko Marin scored one goal and set up another in a 3-1 win at Freiburg that took his team out of the relegation zone.
Marin came on with half an hour remaining, setting up Claudio Pizarro for Bremen's second goal in the 76th minute and scoring in the second minute of injury time.
Sandro Wagner gave Werder the lead in the 12th minute, with Papiss Demba Cisse equalizing from the penalty spot in the 49th.
Bremen goalkeeper Tim Wiese and Cisse were booked after the final whistle after Cisse took exception to the visiting side's celebrations.
Bremen rises to 14th, three points clear of the relegation zone. Freiburg drops to eighth on 37.
"We have to go from game to game and take every opponent seriously," Werder coach Thomas Schaaf said.
Bremen, outscored 20-1 in its last seven away games, was second from bottom ahead of Freiburg's 200th Bundesliga game at home.
Bremen's Florian Trinks almost scored in the 8th, but goalkeeper Oliver Baumann forced the 18-year-old wide.
Pizarro's headed effort was cleared off the line four minutes later, but Wagner was there to score his first Bundesliga goal from close range after Sebastian Proedl sent the ball back in.
Oemer Toprak headed Freiburg's first chance over in the 20th.
Trinks found Tim Borowski alone on the edge of the area ten minutes later, when the former German international dragged his shot across goal.
Borowski's clumsy challenge on Erik Jendrisek allowed Cisse claim his 17th goal of the season from the penalty spot, when he coolly sent Wiese the wrong way.
Freiburg was much improved, and Oliver Barth thought he had given his side into the lead in the 57th, before the goal was ruled out for a foul by Toprak.
Marin's attempt to capitalize on a mistake from Baumann - when the goalkeeper gave away possession while out of goal - drifted wide in the 62nd, and Pizarro and Borowski missed chances shortly afterward.
Pizarro made amends when he took Marin's pass before unleashing low past Baumann into the bottom left corner for the Peruvian's fifth goal of the season.
Baumann denied chances for substitutes Marko Arnautovic and Leon Balogun, before preventing Pizarro from making the game safe in the final minute.
There was little the goalkeeper could do, however, when Marin latched onto a through ball from Arnautovic and took the ball past before slotting home his third goal of the season
"We only have finals," Torsten Frings said. "We have to play with that passion. Then we'll make it."
