Gomez hat-trick as Bayern Munich go third in Bundesliga

Mario Gomez continued his impressive scoring record this season with a hat-trick for Bayern.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Bayern Munich step up title challenge with 5-1 rout of Kaiserslautern
• Mario Gomez takes his tally to 15 in the Bundesliga this season with hat-trick
• Schalke win 1-0 at Mainz with Spain striker Raul scoring his 10th of the season

(CNN) -- Mario Gomez scored a hat-trick as reigning champions Bayern Munich went third in the Bundesliga with a 5-1 win over Kaiserslautern Saturday.

But Louis van Gaal's men are still 14 points adrift of runaway leaders Borussia Dortmund, who were held 1-1 by struggling Stuttgart.

Gomez scored all his goals in the second half to take his tally to 15 in the league, the joint best with Freiburg's Papiss Cisse Demba.

"We had lots of problems in the first half, Kaiserslautern were very disciplined and well organized," Dutchman van Gaal told AFP.

"But we scored two quick goals at just the right time," he added.

We scored two quick goals at just the right time
--Louis van Gaal

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Arjen Robben scored Bayern's only goal of the first half on 43 minutes and then set up Gomez for the first of his goals just after the break.

Kaiserslautern pulled one back through Czech midfielder Jan Moravek in the 62nd minute.

But Gomez added two late goals and German World Cup hero Thomas Mueller grabbed a fifth in added time.

Dortmund went ahead at home to Stuttgart as Mario Goetze scored just before the break.

But Stuttgart's Russia international striker Pavel Pogrebnyak equalized in the 84th minute to stun the leaders.

Hanover stay second, 13 points behind Dortmund, after a 1-0 home loss to Schalke.

Spanish striker Raul hit his 10th league goal of the season to give Schalke the win and lift them to 10th in the standings after a poor start to the season.

Former England manager Steve McClaren secured a much-needed first victory in 10 matches as his Wolfsburg side earned a 1-0 win at Mainz, who drop to fourth.

Defender Simon Kjaer scored the only goal in the 82nd minute.

In Friday's action Hamburg beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0, but there was good news after the match for Frankfurt coach Michael Skibbe, who has had his contract extended with the Bundesliga club until 2012.

Bayer Leverkusen can go second if they can beat bottom side Borussia Moenchengladbach Sunday.