CHICAGO — Sixty percent of the games played throughout the years between Tampa Bay and the Chicago Cubs have been decided by one run, so it's no surprise that Sunday's game at Wrigley Field turned out the same way.

In a game that went back and forth all day, the Cubs won 4-3 to take the series. They erased a one-run deficit in the seventh inning when Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner laced a two-RBI double to left field off Rays reliever Edwin Uceta.

Uceta has been one of the Rays' best relievers lately, allowing just one run in 14 outings before this series. But he gave up a homer in Friday's 6-4 loss and two more runs on Sunday to take the loss.  He is now 9-3 on the season after Hoerner's big hit, driving in Willi Castro and Matt Shaw, both of whom had singles.

"He's been outstanding for us and he did a nice job of being aggressive (getting the two outs) but then Hoerner comes up and smokes a ball. (Hoerner) had a good series (six hits in three days) against us.''

Adrian Houser started for the Rays and had another successful outing against the Cubs. He made his final start against them for the White Sox on July 25 before being traded to the Rays. He pitched into the seventh inning and got in the win o 12-5 victory.

He made it through six innings on Sunday, allowing just two runs, a Hoerner RBI single in the first and an Ian Happ solo home run in the sixth. He allowed seven hits and a walk over 90 pitches, but did a good job of navigating through traffic and left the game with a lead.

But the Rays couldn't hold it, and they couldn't add on to their lead either. They were just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and had a run taken off the board in the top of the seventh on a weird play on the basepaths.

Junior Caminero drew a one-out walk and Brandon Lowe singled to center, pushing Caminero to third. Jake Mangum hit a ground ball behind Lowe that Hoerner fielded deep in the hole and threw to second.

Lowe wasn't expecting a throw, so he ran to the base instead of sliding. Shortstop Dansby Swanson caught the ball and then went to throw to first, but Lowe interfered with him. After review, he was called for interference, and the play was ruled a double play. Caminero's run didn't count.

"I don't necessarily agree with the outcome of the call,'' Lowe said. "I didn't see what they saw, with how that play turned out. Weak contact behind me, and that's not normally a play where the second baseman would throw to second. When I saw Dansby catch the ball, I slowed down and touched the base. I didn't do anything else, but they saw something else in New York.

"Yeah, it changes everything, and it takes away an RBI from Mangum, too. That was a huge turn in that game.''

Both Rays losses in this series thwarted big starts. Christopher Morel had a three-run home run in the first inning of Friday's loss, and on Sunday, Yandy Diaz opened the game with homers to give the Rays a quick 2-0 lead. 

Diaz's homer deep into the left-fielf bleachers was his 24th of the year, a career high, and the ninth homer of his career to lead off a game.

Caminero's homer was the 44th of the year, pulling him within two of the team record of 46 set by Carlos Pena in 2007.  

"It feels good, and that's something nice in baseball,'' Caminero said. "I wasn't trying and thinking about hitting a home run, but it came and it was good that it was in the first inning.''

The Rays now head home for the final homestand of the season. They'll open a four-game series with Toronto on Monday night at Steinbrenner Field. At 72-76 and still 7.5 games out of the playoffs, they need to get very hot over these final 13 games. The Rays have not announced a Monday starter.

"It's a tough road trip, so we need to show up and be ready to play (on Monday),'' Lowe said.

PEPIOT RETURNS TO ROTATION:  Ryan Pepiot missed his first start of the year on Wednesday because of ''overall body fatigue,'' but he feels better now and got through a good bullpen session on Saturday. He'll start Tuesday night against Toronto. Here is Tom Brew's interview with him on Sunday in the Rays' clubhouse in Chicago. CLICK HERE

RAYS TAKE DOWN CUBS ON FORTES HOMER (Saturday): Catcher Nick Fortes hit a ninth-inning homer and the Rays won a thriller 5-4 over the Cubs that featured comebacks from three different deficits. Here's the game story, live from Chicago. CLICK HERE

MOREL HOMERS, BUT RAYS LOSE TO CUBS ANYWAY (Friday): Christopher Morel hit a three-run home run in his first appearance back at Wrigley Field, but the former Cubs' first-inning blast wasn't enough. The Cubs got to starter Shane Baz and won 6-4. Here's the game story, live from Chicago. CLICK HERE