Rovers broke the deadlock after an evenly-contested first half-hour when Iain Hume struck in the 35th minute after shaking off a couple of defenders to fire home from the edge of the box.
Despite their efforts Hartlepool never really tested home goalkeeper Gary Woods, although substitute Steve Howard was unlucky to head against the post in the 77th minute.
By then Rovers were 2-0 up after Jim Coppinger had fired home in the 55th minute after latching on to a left-wing cross from teenager James Husband, who produced another superb cross for Billy Paynter to head in the third nine minutes from time.
"Sometimes when it's not happening for you that's when you have to do something to turn the tide, but we were unable to do that," the Scot said.
"We weren't able to reproduce the standard we have set recently, but we need to be consistent to have a chance of staying up.
"We are fighting for our lives, but I think we tried to play a bit too much football and never really landed a glove on them, which was disappointing.
"We were second best, that's for sure, but we've given ourselves a chance with the run we've had and we've got to get back on song for the next game on Tuesday night.
"The games can't come quick enough for me at the moment and I'm looking forward to the next one to put things right."
