He was used almost entirely as a reliever in a partial season with the 1963 Reds. On April 21 of that year, he set a National League record by balking three times in one inning. (Bob Shaw broke that record less than a month later when he balked five times in one frame.) Overall, Owens posted an ERA of 5.31 in 19 games that year, including three starting assignments. He was sent to Triple-A San Diego, where he appeared in eight games. Then, in December, the Astros (then nicknamed the "Colt .45s") took him in the 1963 Rule 5 draft.